Department for Transport

Motorcycles: Driving Tests

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help reduce waiting times for a motorcycle theory test.

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on people's (a) socio-economic wellbeing and (b) job opportunities of waiting lists for a motorcycle theory test.

Karl McCartney: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency operates a six month forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this. All available theory test appointments are shown on the live booking system and any additional tests are added as soon as they become available. There is capacity available to book motorcycle theory test appointments within this window.

Transport for London: Concessions

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with the Mayor of London on extending the eligibility for Freedom Passes for the (a) Elizabeth Line and (b) London Underground to (i) pensioners and (ii) people with disabilities who live outside London but whose local services are connected to Transport for London services.

Karl McCartney: Transport in London is devolved and responsibility for it lies with the Mayor of London and Transport for London, including decisions on concessions offered and the terms attached to those concessions. Local authorities can choose to make cross border arrangements with neighbouring authorities for discretionary concessions.

Vehicle Number Plates: Clones

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to support victims of car registration cloning; and what resources are available to victims to help them to resolve issues relating to that cloning.

Karl McCartney: The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must, by law, be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for number plate suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements and works closely with the police and trading standards to share intelligence and support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply.Anyone who suspects that their number plate has been cloned should report this to the police, who are responsible for on road enforcement. Any fines or correspondence received for offences which have not been committed should be returned to the issuing authorities for investigation. Vehicle keepers can also write to the DVLA, who can issue a new registration number for a vehicle where necessary.

Bus Services: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Bus Service Improvement Plan funding will be delivered to that programme's recipients.

Karl McCartney: A total of 31 Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), representing 34 local authority areas, have been selected for funding from over £1 billion new dedicated funding - as part of the £3 billion being invested in buses over the course of this Parliament.We aim to issue final grant funding letters, before commencing payments in due course.

Railway Network: Suffolk

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional (a) passenger and (b) freight services would be provided under the recommended option submitted by Network Rail in its outline business case for the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement under the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline.

Wendy Morton: An update on the scheme will be provided in an updated Rail Network Enhancements Portfolio (RNEP) in due course.

Railway Network: Suffolk

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many lorry journeys would be replaced by rail freight under the preferred option in the outline business case submitted by Network Rail for the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement under the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline.

Wendy Morton: An update on the scheme will be provided in an updated Rail Network Enhancements Portfolio (RNEP) in due course.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has held with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland on taking steps to increase the installation of charging points to support drivers switching to electric vehicles.

Trudy Harrison: Government works closely with the devolved administrations on supporting the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the whole of the UK. UK government officials are currently working with Northern Irish counterparts on a bid into the On-street Residential Charging Scheme. In addition, £3.27m from the Levelling Up Fund will expand and enhance the EV charging network in the country.

Railways: Franchises

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received representations from hon Members on (a) creating a new franchise model and (b) reverting to the previous model for train services in the last 12 months.

Wendy Morton: The Department for Transport has received representations from hon. Members regarding rail transformation, including on the new Passenger Service Contract model and interim National Rail Contracts. As set out in the Williams Shapps Plan for Rail, our reforms will better incentivise train operators to provide punctual and reliable services for passengers.

East West Rail Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it remains the Government's position to support the building of East West Rail to completion.

Wendy Morton: Connection Stage 1 (CS1) of East West Rail (Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes) is currently in construction with Entry into Service by 2025. Connection Stage 2 (Bletchley to Bedford) and Connection Stage 3 (Bedford to Cambridge) of East West Rail are at development stage and next steps for the project will be set out in due course.

East West Rail Line: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) projected total spend and (b) actual spend to date is for East West Rail project.

Wendy Morton: The projected total costs for East West Rail will be driven by the scope and design choices which are yet to be made on Connection Stage 2 and 3.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Innovate UK: Expenditure

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 33780 on Innovate UK: Expenditure, what data Innovate UK collects on the (a) types of companies it invests in and (b) the level of success of those companies; and if he will publish a breakdown of Innovate UK's annual spending by (i) technology and (ii) service sector.

Jane Hunt: Data collected by Innovate UK includes self-declared enterprise size. Their focus for measuring success is through formal evaluation of their programmes which will include data at a company level. Innovate UK are in the process of embedding their impact management framework which will collect data from the organisation supported to provide throughout the project lifecycle enabling them to understand the impact journey of those they support. Innovate UK support plays a key role in bringing together different sectors to solve challenges through innovative technology use. Their thematic programmes do focus on certain challenges but rarely specify the technology and often cross sectors.

Vacancies

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many times the Government has met with representatives of the (a) construction, (b) manufacturing and (c) hospitality industries specifically to discuss labour shortages, in the last three months.

Jane Hunt: BEIS Ministers and officials regularly meet with construction, manufacturing and hospitality businesses and representatives from all three sectors to discuss a range of issues including labour shortages. Employment in the hospitality sector is now above pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, BEIS officials recently met with the National Manufacturing Skills Task Force to discuss how Government and industry can work together to address the skills and workforce challenges of manufacturing employers. Officials are in active dialogue across all sectors.

Research: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has spent on knowledge exchange activities; and with which organisations.

Jane Hunt: The Government has committed significant funds to support knowledge exchange between universities and the wider economy and society. Through its constituent research councils and Innovate UK, UK Research Innovation (UKRI) provided £166 million in 2021/22 to support knowledge exchange and commercialisation activity. In addition to this, Research England’s Higher Education Innovation Funding and Research England Development Fund allocated £277 million to support knowledge exchange in universities in England in the same year. Research England manages the Connecting Capabilities Fund which has allocated £125 million.

Solar Power: Energy Performance Certificates

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the use of solar photovoltaic panels is not taken into account for the purposes of an Energy Performance Certificate.

Greg Hands: The underlying methodology for producing an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assesses energy performance based on the fixed components of the building. This includes solar photovoltaic panels.

Energy Performance Certificates

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to raise the minimum rentable Energy Performance Certificate rating from E to D.

Greg Hands: The Government committed in the Clean Growth Strategy to improve as many privately rented homes as possible to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2030 where practical, affordable and cost effective. The Government consulted on raising the standard to EPC C for new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and for all tenancies by 1 April 2028. The Government has carefully analysed the responses received and will publish a response in due course.

Heating: Energy Performance Certificates

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason electric room heaters are considered less efficient than radiators powered by an oil boiler for the purposes of an Energy Performance Certificate, given that electric heaters can be powered by renewable energy.

Greg Hands: Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) use an Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) to score the energy performance of buildings based on their estimated running costs. Since energy costs can be a significant outlay, it is important that homeowners and occupiers are aware of the potential running costs of their building. Given the higher cost of electricity relative to oil, the presence of an electric radiator may result in a low EER without added measures to reduce energy demand, such as insulation. The metrics on the EPC are kept under review as the Government develop policy to simultaneously tackle fuel poverty and decarbonise buildings.

Energy: Conservation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the role of energy efficiency in meeting the UK’s climate targets.

Greg Hands: The Government believes that improving insulation measures in homes is one of the best long-term solutions for reducing household energy costs and fuel poverty. Improving insulation across the UK’s housing stock also aligns with commitments to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Government has committed £6.6 billon across the lifetime of this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings.

Energy Intensive Industries

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to reduce energy costs for energy-intensive businesses.

Greg Hands: The Government recognises the importance of securing a competitive future for Its energy intensive industries (EIIs), and in recent years has provided them with extensive support, including more than £2 billion to help with energy costs and to protect jobs. As part of the its British Energy Security Strategy, the Government recently announced to extended the EII Compensation Scheme for a further three years. The scheme’s budget will be more than doubled. That strategy also announced plans to consider increasing support offered by the EII Exemption Scheme.

Small Modular Reactors

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the commencement of production of small modular reactors in the UK as soon as possible.

Greg Hands: The Government has awarded up to £210m to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. The Rolls-Royce SMR entered the Generic Design Assessment process in April becoming the first SMR to begin UK nuclear regulation. The Government has also announced the Future Nuclear Enabling Fund (FNEF) of up to £120m to support future nuclear projects, including SMRs, addressing barriers to entry. The British Energy Security Strategy sets out the Government’s intention to take two Final Investment Decisions on new nuclear projects in the next parliament and to initiate a selection process for projects in 2023, including SMRs.

Manufacturing Industries: Infrastructure

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support UK manufacturers when developing government infrastructure projects.

Greg Hands: The UK Energy Supply Chain Taskforce will focus on ensuring UK supply chain companies can take advantage of clean growth opportunities in the UK and overseas. The Government will put UK at the forefront of manufacturing as opportunities grow from wind turbines to heat pumps as the Government set out the opportunity to develop the manufacturing base and expand supply chains for building efficiency.

Energy: Billing

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that energy customers using a preferred payment method are not disadvantaged compared with customers using other payment methods.

Greg Hands: Under the terms of the supply licence enforced by Ofgem, gas and electricity suppliers cannot charge more for one payment method compared with another, unless it costs more to provide the preferred payment method to customers.

Energy: Infrastructure

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the resilience of energy sector infrastructure to periods of extreme heat.

Greg Hands: Great Britain’s electricity infrastructure is highly resilient and designed to operate in hot weather. In the event that energy infrastructure is impacted by extreme heat, the energy sector has long-standing plans and procedures to respond and repair any damage to infrastructure.

Electricity: Prices

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of energy companies who have increased their electricity prices for customers with a renewable energy tariff in response to the general rise in energy costs.

Greg Hands: The Government does not set electricity prices, because setting tariffs is a commercial decision for suppliers, within the constraints of the price cap. The Government has recently published a consultation setting out options as part of its Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). REMA is considering how the role of gas as a price setter for electricity could be reduced. This will include examining reforms for helping bring forward investment in low carbon generation, leading to less frequent use of gas so that it sets the price of electricity for shorter periods, as well as wholesale market reform options that could help to reduce the link.

Fracking

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the review commissioned by his Department of the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction; if he will publish the evidence used in that review; and if he plans to issue a response.

Greg Hands: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green on 6 July 2022 to Question 28901.

National Grid: Seas and Oceans

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussions with the National Grid on the potential merits of building an offshore electricity grid instead of additional on-land energy pylons.

Greg Hands: BEIS has worked with National Grid Electricity System Operator to bring together the design of connections for offshore wind with wider network reinforcements and consider the cumulative environmental and community impacts upfront. Where the need for new reinforcements have been identified in the Holistic Network Design (HND) no decisions have yet been taken by National Grid Electricity Transmission. Any project will be subject to the relevant planning processes. Placing all new infrastructure offshore is not a feasible option. Electricity needs to get to where the demand is, which is onshore. Even with offshore cables, infrastructure is required at landing points.

Fracking

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether a social impact assessment was conducted as part of the review commissioned by his Department of the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the social licence to operate that is required for major shale gas operators.

Greg Hands: The Government commissioned the British Geological Survey to advise on the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction. The Government has now received the report, which is under careful review, and will make any decisions on the next steps in due course. The exploration of shale gas reserves in England could only proceed if the science shows that it is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working nearby. Any exploration or development of shale gas would need to meet rigorous safety and environmental protections both above ground and sub-surface.

Solar Power

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure energy providers pay fair prices for energy generated by private individuals' solar panels; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward a scheme to allow consumers to save the excess energy they generate during warmer months for when it is required during winter.

Greg Hands: The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a cost-reflective market led mechanism, helping to level the playing field for small-scale low-carbon generation. To enable the SEG to be market based and encourage innovation, a key feature is to allow suppliers to set the tariff levels and structure. Whilst payment must be greater than zero at all times of export it is for suppliers to determine the value of the exported electricity. The retail cost of electricity would not be a fair price to pay because it includes not only the wholesale costs, but also network costs, levies and supplier operating costs.

Batteries: Climate Change

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sand batteries in tackling climate change.

Greg Hands: BEIS has not made any specific assessment of the effectiveness of sand batteries. However, sand batteries form part of a class of technologies known as thermal storage, all of which play a similar role in supporting the changes to the energy system needed to address climate change. These technologies are in an early stage of development and BEIS fund innovation in thermal storage as part of the Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration Programme. A list of projects funded can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/longer-duration-energy-storage-demonstration-programme-successful-projects/longer-duration-energy-storage-demonstration-programme-stream-2-phase-1-details-of-successful-projects.

Wind Power

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of onshore wind on (a) the price of energy bills and (b) energy security.

Greg Hands: The costs of onshore wind have fallen dramatically, and it is around 50% cheaper than in 2015. More low-cost renewables like onshore wind on the system will limit household electricity bills by ensuring that Britain is less affected by fluctuations in volatile global gas prices. As set out in the Energy White Paper and Net Zero Strategy, a low-cost net zero system of the future will be predominantly comprised of wind and solar. To achieve this, the Government will require a sustained increase in locally supported onshore wind to 2030 and beyond, alongside other renewables such as solar and offshore wind.

Energy: Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to improve the energy efficiency of housing stock in the UK in addition to his Department's planned net zero expenditure on theenergy efficiency of buildings.

Greg Hands: In addition to providing £6.6 billion of funding, the Government is creating a long-term regulatory framework to help meet its aspiration that as many homes as possible are improved to EPC Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective, and affordable. The Government has consulted on raising the minimum energy performance rating for privately-rented homes and has committed to consult on options to upgrade homes in the owner-occupier sector. The Government is also taking action to facilitate low-cost finance from retail lenders to drive investment in energy efficiency measures; and further improving its advice and information offer to help households improve the energy performance of their homes.

Energy: Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of retrofit housing stock to help ensure it is energy efficient.

Greg Hands: The Government believes that improving insulation measures in homes is one of the best long-term solutions for reducing household energy costs and fuel poverty. Improving insulation across the UK’s housing stock also aligns with the commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Government has committed £6.6 billon across the lifetime of this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ambulance Services: Staff

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support ambulance staff with their mental health, in the context of the recent increase in call volumes.

Maria Caulfield: Ambulance sector staff have access to mental health and wellbeing hubs which offer rapid access to assessment and local evidence-based mental health services and support, where needed.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have died while waiting for an ambulance in (a) the South West and (b) England in (a) 2022 so far, (b) 2021, (c) 2020 and (d) 2019.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Huntington's Disease: Mental Health Services

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of mental health support for people with Huntingdon's disease.

James Morris: There are no plans to make a specific assessment. However, we will review the specification for the Clinical Genomic Service, which offers specialised neurology services for people with Huntington’s disease. This will include improving access to mental health services. The revised specification will be subject to public consultation before receiving final approval. In addition, the neuropsychiatry service specification is in development, which will outline the multi-disciplinary approach to caring for patients with complex neurological conditions who require specialised assessment and mental health support.

NHS: Health Professions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to assess the workforce requirements for clinical specialisms in the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to make a specific assessment. However, the Department has commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce. This will ensure the appropriate skills and behaviours are available to deliver high standards of care. In addition, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term plan for the workforce, which will assess supply and demand. The outcomes will be available in due course. We are also considering the workforce implications within a number of forthcoming strategies including cancer, maternity and mental health services.

NHS: Staff

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Physicians’ 2021 consultant census finding that 52 per cent of advertised consultant posts in England and Wales went unfilled, what recent assessment he has made of the size of the NHS workforce relative to patient demand.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce. This will ensure that we have the appropriate skills and behaviours in the workforce to deliver high standards of care and meet patient demand. In addition, we have asked NHS England to develop a long term plan for workforce, which will include assessments of supply and demand. The outcomes of this plan will be available in due course. We are also considering workforce requirements within a number of forthcoming strategies including cancer, maternity and mental health services.

Females: Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what dates (a) she or her Ministerial colleagues and (b) officials in her Department have met sector stakeholders on the development of the (i) Women’s Health and (ii) Sexual and Reproductive Strategies since December 2021; and which organisations attended those meetings.

Maria Caulfield: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly at GOV.UK at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?organisations%5B%5D=department-of-health-and-social-care&parent=department-of-health-and-social-care This information requested on meetings with officials is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

NHS: Staff

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the long-term workforce strategy commissioned by his Department earlier this year will be published.

Maria Caulfield: Work on the long term workforce plan is continuing, including engagement with stakeholders. The outcomes will be available in due course.

NHS and Social Services: Sick Leave

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff who work in (a) the NHS and (b) social care who have been placed on sick leave due to mental health illness in each month since March 2020.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dementia and Menopause

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness amongst clinicians that brain fog can be a symptom of both dementia and menopause.

Maria Caulfield: A Women’s Health Ambassador for England has been appointed to raise the profile for women’s heath, including the menopause and long term conditions, such as dementia. The Ambassador will support implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy, in which the menopause is a priority area.NHS England is supporting clinicians to deliver improved menopause care through a clinical pathway being developed by a menopause clinical reference group, which will include the symptoms of concentration-loss or ‘brain fog’.The NHS Health Check for adults in England aged 45 to 74 years old is designed to identify early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia. Since 2018, dementia risk reduction has been incorporated within the NHS Health Check to increase awareness and motivate people to reduce their risks. In addition, those aged 65 years old and over are made aware of the signs and symptoms of dementia and guided to memory clinics.

Doctors: Training

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to extend the NHS Bursary to trainee doctors from low-income backgrounds to include the final two years of training to help ensure completion of their medical course.

Maria Caulfield: We have no specific plans to do so. From year five of an undergraduate course and from year two of a graduate-entry course, students can access the non-repayable NHS Bursary. This comprises payment for tuition fees a non-means-tested grant and a further means-tested award. Students from low-income backgrounds typically qualify for a larger means tested maintenance award. An additional hardship grant is available where they may be eligible to claim a sum between £100 and £3,000, depending on current financial circumstances.

Ambulance Services: NHS 111

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of 999 calls to NHS Ambulance Trusts were redirected to NHS 111 in (a) the third quarter of 2021, (b) the fourth quarter of 2021, (c) the first quarter of 2022 and (d) the second quarter of 2022, by NHS Ambulance Trust.

Maria Caulfield: The data requested is shown in the following table. Data for the second quarter of 2022 from July to September is not yet held centrally. Quarter 3 20210.8%Quarter 4 20210.9%Quarter 1 20221.0% Source: Integrated Urgent Care Aggregate Data Collection, NHS England

Medicine: Training

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with representatives of the British Medical Association on the suitability of financial support for medical students.

Maria Caulfield: While there have been no specific discussions, the Department continues to engage with the British Medical Association on a range of topics.

NHS: Staff

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) recruit more NHS staff, (b) ensure that requests of medical staff to work overnight shifts are reasonable and (c) reduce appointment backlogs.

Maria Caulfield: Local National Health Service trusts have responsibility for ensuring appropriate staffing levels and recruiting the number of health professionals required to meet local service need. We have committed to recruiting NHS staff and investing in the workforce. As of April 2022, there were more than 9,600 additional nurses and 4,000 doctors working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups. We are currently on schedule to meet the commitment for a further 50,000 nurses. We have established a programme to improve retention and support return to practice, invest in and diversify the training pipeline and ethically recruit internationally.Eligible new and continuing nursing students on pre-registration courses at English universities will also receive an additional grant of £5,000 for each year of their course. Further funding of up to £3,000 is available for costs such as childcare or to encourage recruitment in specific specialisms. The NHS has also established a People Recovery Task Force to provide assurance on the safety and wellbeing of staff. However, it is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure that requests for medical staff to work overnight are reasonable.Through the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, we have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to address waiting times in elective services. This is in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund made available to systems in 2021/22.

Primary Health Care: Buildings

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will amend the rules on building utilisation to maximise use of modern, fit-for-purpose primary care estate, including that which was delivered under the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust programme.

Maria Caulfield: There are no specific rules on the utilisation of buildings. A specific lease may limit the use of estate, such as the sharing of services. These leases are locally determined and as independent contractors, general practitioner partnerships negotiate the specific terms.NHS England has provided an online toolkit to support Primary Care Networks to develop estates requirements. In addition, NHS England will shortly ask all integrated care systems to undertake an Estates Infrastructure Strategy informed by local population health needs. These will include maximising utilisation of the current estate to ensure primary care is provided in fit-for-purpose premises, such as Local Improvement Finance Trust programme sites. This will develop of capital investment plans for local systems to deliver a model of care determined by Population Health Management and informed by ‘Next steps for integrating primary care: Fuller stocktake report’.

West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date he last met the CEO of the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust.

Maria Caulfield: My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care met with the Chief Executive Officer of West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust on 16 July 2022.

Gynaecology: Waiting Lists

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to tackle waiting lists for gynaecology care.

Maria Caulfield: The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how we will increase capacity in elective services, such as gynaecological care and reduce waiting times for patients. This will include identifying alternate capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and engaging with patients on the choices available to receive this care. We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund made available to systems in 2021/22 to reduce waiting times for elective services, including gynaecology.We are working with the National Health Service to eliminate the longest waiting times of two years or more for elective procedures by the end of July 2022, which will include patients awaiting gynaecological care.

Department of Health and Social Care: Legal Costs

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much their Department and its associated agencies spent on legal disputes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The information is not collected in the format required and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Miscarriage

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make it its policy to record and include miscarriages in official statistics for the purposes of (a) setting targets for reducing baby loss and (b) informing the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy.

Maria Caulfield: There are no official statistics reported for miscarriages. The accurate reporting of miscarriages in England is challenging due to the significant number of miscarriages not reported to a healthcare provider, particularly those that take place at an early gestation.Pregnancy loss is a priority area within the recently published Women’s Health Strategy for England, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/womens-health-strategy-for-england

Hospitals: Basingstoke

Dame Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on plans to build a new hospital in Basingstoke as part of the £3.7 billion funding for infrastructure investment; and what the timescale is for the public consultation phase of the process.

Maria Caulfield: A new hospital for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust forms part of the Government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030.Delivery of the new hospitals is grouped into cohorts based on an assessment of readiness to progress and the extent to which new hospitals can benefit from advantages of delivery through a national programme. The new hospital for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is in a later cohort, with delivery expected in the latter half of the decade. We are working with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and currently anticipate a consultation to begin at the end of 2022, which will be subject to standard processes and timings.

Radioligand Therapy

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2022 to Question 23788 on radioligand therapy, what central funding will be made available for regional teams to expand services to meet the potential increase in NICE-approved radioligand therapies.

James Morris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper MP) on 19 July 2022 to Question 33934.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that patients do not experience delay to cancer treatment caused by staffing shortages.

James Morris: The Department is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to increase the cancer and diagnostics workforce. This will contribute to the expansion of postgraduate medical training for cancer-related medical professions, such as pathologists and histopathologists, clinical radiologists and oncologists. Individual budgets for each specialty will be determined by Health Education England’s business planning in due course.

Epidermolysis Bullosa

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of Epidermolysis Bullosa in (a) the NHS workforce and (b) the health research sector.

James Morris: The 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework aims to improve the awareness of all rare diseases, including Epidermolysis Bullosa. England’s Rare Diseases Action Plan, published in February 2022, sets out how we will increase knowledge and improve the resources available to health care professionals. This includes education and training programmes and developing innovative digital resources, which are integrated into existing digital platforms or websites to provide easily accessible information on rare diseases, such as Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Defibrillators and First Aid

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase public access to (a) first aid kits and (b) defibrillators in public locations.

James Morris: With St John Ambulance, NHS England is co-ordinating skills development to increase the use of automated external defibrillators by individuals in community settings, supported by confident cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills. This will include a national network of community advocates to champion the importance of first aid and training 60,000 people to save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.The Government encourages organisations in England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of first-aid equipment, in particular for locations where there are high concentrations of people. Many community defibrillators have since been provided through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities in public locations, such as shopping centres.

Primary Health Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of how to optimise the triaging of patients in primary care.

James Morris: No specific assessment has been made, as triage is based on clinical need. However, NHS England and the Royal College of General Practitioners have published guidance for practices on how to perform triage and remote consultations effectively.

General Practitioners: Surveys

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the GP Patient Survey 2022; and if he will make a statement.

James Morris: The results of the 2022 GP Patient Survey were published on 14 July 2022 and we are currently considering the outcomes.

General Practitioners: West Midlands

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of GPs per capita in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.

James Morris: The information is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows the median number of full time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) per 10,000 registered patients in Birmingham, the West Midlands and England in May 2022. Birmingham5.3West Midlands5.7England5.3 Notes:GP FTE is for all doctors in general practice.FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. One would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE equals 40 hours and this information shows FTEs converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of 1 FTE equals 37.5 hours for consistency.This data does not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres, including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.Data includes estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records.Full Estimation: Estimates are made for both headcount and FTE for those practices which did not provide any valid data for one or more of the four staff groups or in the case of practices providing no valid direct patient care (DPC) data, DPC estimates are made for those practices also failing to provide valid data for at least one other staff group. The absence of data for a staff group could be due to poor data quality or no submitted data. For these practices, clinical commissioning group-level estimations are made.Partial Estimation: In some cases, practices provide valid records about their staff but do not include information about their working hours. In these cases, the records are retained to calculate estimates for working hours and full-time equivalence based upon the national averages for the job role. This is referred to as ‘partial estimates’ and the scale of these estimates varies by staff group.

Primary Health Care: Faversham and Mid Kent

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to primary care services for people in Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.

James Morris: We have committed to recruit an additional 26,000 primary care staff in Primary Care Networks. In Kent and Medway, more than 400 additional roles staff have been recruited, including pharmacy technicians, first contact physios and mental health practitioners.NHS England is working with local partners to attract general practitioners (GPs) to the area and encouraging trainees to undertake placements in Kent. In Kent and Medway, 19 GP trainees are being funded through the Targeted Enhancement Recruitment Scheme. Kent Medical School has 100 medical students hosted in Kent and Medway general practices. NHS England is procuring new mandatory dental services, based on the current areas of greatest need in Kent.

Dental Services: Rural Areas

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental treatment in rural and isolated communities.

James Morris: The Department and NHS England have recently announced improvements to the National Health Service dental system to increase access, target patients with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams. This will assist regional commissioners to address the needs of NHS dental patients in rural and isolated communities through focused commissioning. It also aims to support practices to utilise members of the dental team to deliver care, particularly where there may be challenges in recruiting and retaining NHS dentists. Since July 2022, NHS England has asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity to safely improve access for patients, including in rural and isolated areas.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the NHS's Breast Screening Programme.

James Morris: NHS England works with stakeholders such as cancer charities, to raise awareness of breast screening, including planning for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2022. NHS.UK provides information on the breast screening process, including ‘surveillance screening’ for individuals at higher risk of breast cancer. It also provides information on checking breasts regularly and any signs of concern.

Dental Services

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of routine check-up appointments for NHS dental patients in England.

James Morris: No specific assessment has been made, as the information requested is not held centrally. Appointments for National Health Service treatment are managed locally by dental practices. NHS regional teams are responsible for commissioning of local NHS dental services and for assessing and monitoring dental activity with service providers. This includes ensuring that contracted practices deliver an adequate service. Since July 2022, NHS England has asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity to safely improve access for patients. The Department and NHS England recently announced improvements to the NHS dental system, to increase access, target patients with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams.

Blood Tests: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2022 to Question 31020 on Blood Tests: Halton, at what level data on waiting times for blood tests and appointments for suspected cancer diagnosis is collected.

James Morris: Data on waiting times for blood tests for patients with suspected cancer symptoms is not collected centrally. Waiting time data on the two-week cancer referral pathway is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

Dental Services: Finance

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence of 15 June 2022 from the Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, how much and what proportion of the £50 million funding for increasing access to dental care was taken up by practices in (a) Yorkshire, (b) the North East and (c) England since that funding was announced in January 2022.

James Morris: The information requested is not yet held centrally as under the standard contract, dental contract holders have 60 days to submit claims for activity. This data is currently being centrally validated and quality assured prior to ensure accuracy and we anticipate it will be available shortly. Of the additional £50 million, £8,633,000 was allocated to the North East and Yorkshire  regions for the last quarter of 2021/22.

Skin Cancer: Health Education

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of melanoma.

James Morris: The National Health Service ‘Help us help you’ campaign focuses on the barriers which prevent people from seeking advice for symptoms in all cancer types. The symptoms of melanoma are not a specific focus in this campaign, as it is more likely to be diagnosed at an early stage than many other cancer types. Those searching for NHS advice online on the potential signs of melanoma will be directed to the appropriate information and encouraged to consult their general practitioner as soon as possible.

Huntington's Disease: Health Services

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the time taken for specialist referrals for people with suspected symptoms of Huntingdon's disease on those people's (a) condition and (b) wellbeing.

James Morris: No formal assessment has been made.

Dental Services: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.

James Morris: Since July 2022, NHS England has asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity to improve access for patients safely, including in Coventry. The National Health Service regional team in the Midlands is planning to invest further in community dental services to support the most vulnerable patients with special needs and paediatric services reduce waiting times. The Department and NHS England have recently announced improvements to the NHS dental system to increase access, target patients with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams, including in Coventry.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health implications of the continued use of mesh slings for incontinence by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust despite a pause on the use of that type of surgery due to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review report, published July 2018.

James Morris: NHS England has confirmed that following an internal review, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has not inserted mesh slings for incontinence since July 2018.

Health Professions: Huntington's Disease

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of healthcare professionals trained to deliver specialist (a) nursing and (b) social care support for Huntingdon's patients.

James Morris: No specific assessment has been made.

Protective Clothing: Storage

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2022 to Question 125078 on Protective Clothing: Storage, how many units of personal protective equipment were in storage in warehouses as of 14 February 2022; and what the cost is to the public purse of that storage.

Maria Caulfield: As of 14 February 2022, there were 6.2 billion items of personal protective equipment in warehouse storage in the United Kingdom and China at a cost of £4 million per week.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 29972, tabled by the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury on 4 July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: We replied to the hon. Member on 22 July 2022.

Ambulance Services: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with stakeholders on increasing the number of personnel available to support ambulance services in (a) York and (b) England.

Maria Caulfield: My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care met with all National Health Service ambulance trusts on 16 July 2022 to discuss capacity and workforce matters ahead of the heatwave, including additional staffing. This meeting included Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Ambulance Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which ambulance services in England (a) have and (b) have not declared the highest critical incident level in the week commencing 11 July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: In the week commencing 11 July 2022, all ambulance trusts in England moved to Resource Escalation Action Plan level 4.

Joint Replacements: Surgery

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of average waiting times for joint replacement surgery in University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; and what steps his Department is taking to (a) clear backlogs and (b) reduce average waiting times for joint replacement surgery in that area.

Maria Caulfield: As of May 2022, the median average (median) waiting time for trauma and orthopaedic treatment at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, including joint replacement surgery was 34.3 weeks.The High Volume Low Complexity programme plans to increase surgical activity through a £1.5 billion investment in dedicated surgical hubs. Through £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund, the Trust was awarded £13.8 million to deliver an expected 164 additional adult inpatient beds.

Surgery: Temperature

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has advised for elective procedures to be halted over periods of extreme heat to ensure that there is sufficient bed capacity for people who are medically unwell as a result of the heat.

Maria Caulfield: No such advice has been given. NHS England works with local National Health Service organisations to plan and prioritise resources to meet the needs of patients.The updated ‘Heatwave Plan for England’ aims to prepare, alert and protect people from the preventable health impacts from severe heat through advice for the NHS, local authorities, social care and other public agencies.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many autologous fascia sling procedures were performed between (a) 1 July 2018 and 1 July 2019, (b) 2 July 2019 and 1 July 2020, (c) 2 July 2020 and 1 July 2021 and (d) 2 July 2021 and 11 July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the number of autologous fascia sling procedures performed in the periods requested to 31 May 2022, the most recent data available. While data from 31 March 2021 is published, it remains provisional.1 July 2018 to 1 July 201972 July 2019 to 1 July 2020102 July 2020 to 1 July 2021152 July 2021 to 31 May 202252

Hospitals: Air Conditioning

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the existing guidance on the use of air conditioning units in hospitals wards in England was last reviewed.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to review the existing guidance on the use of air conditioning units in hospital wards in England.

Maria Caulfield: Guidance is kept under review and updated as appropriate. The existing guidance ‘Specialised ventilation for healthcare buildings’ was updated in June 2021 and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-ventilation-for-healthcare-buildings/

Incontinence: Surgery

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many colposuspension surgeries were performed between (a) July 2018 and July 2019, (b) July 2019 and July 2020, (c) July 2020 and July 2021 and (d) July 2021 to date.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the number of colposuspension surgeries performed in the periods requested to 31 May 2022, the most recent data available. While data from 31 March 2021 is published, it remains provisional.1 July 2018 to 1 July 20197912 July 2019 to 1 July 20206822 July 2020 to 1 July 20214802 July 2021 to 31 May 2022470

Health Services: Females

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for publishing the Women’s Health and Sexual and Reproductive Strategies.

Maria Caulfield: The Women’s Health Strategy for England was published 20 July 2022. It is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/womens-health-strategy-for-englandAn action plan will set out how we will improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes later this year, which will complement the HIV Action Plan published in December 2021.

Hospitals: Admissions

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England will begin publishing 12-hour data measured from the time of arrival on the wait for admission to hospitals.

Maria Caulfield: NHS Digital collects information from National Health Service providers on the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours from arrival in emergency departments, which is published annually. While NHS England is considering arrangements for further publication of data on waiting times of 12 hours from arrival, it is currently unable to confirm a specific timetable.

Health Professions: Parkinson's Disease

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are sufficient (a) physiotherapists, (b) occupational therapists, (c) speech and language therapists, (d) neurologists and (e) other health care professionals to provide care to the projected increase of people being diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Maria Caulfield: Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for planning local staffing levels in line with service priorities, including providing care to people living with Parkinson’s disease. The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan, including supply and demand projections. The conclusions of this plan will be available in due course.We are also increasing the supply of nurses and allied health professionals (AHPs), including physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, by providing all eligible students with a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. Further financial support is available for childcare, accommodation and travel costs. There are currently more than 30,000 students in training to become AHPs. We are also expanding the number of postgraduate neurology training posts in England by 10 from August 2022.From March 2010 to March 2022, the number of full-time equivalent physiotherapists working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups has increased by 24.6%, with increases of 17.4% for occupational therapists, 19.1% for speech and language therapists, and 62.9% for doctors working in the speciality of neurology. The number of professionally qualified clinical staff has increased by 21.1% over the same period.

Monkeypox: Vaccination

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional doses of Imvanex, for protection against the monkeypox virus, have been ordered to date; and when those doses are planned to be available.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency has procured more than 100,000 doses of the smallpox vaccine Jynneos, which is pharmaceutically identical to Imvanex. This is in addition to approximately 30,000 doses of Imvanex vaccine previously procured. The first of the doses of Jynneos will arrive in July, with the remainder expected by September 2022.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the reported covid-19 vaccine deaths to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Yellow Card Scheme have (a) been investigated and (b) been found to be related to the vaccines.

Maggie Throup: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) investigates all reports of fatal or serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) related to the COVID-19 vaccines as a priority.However, an ADR report associated with a fatal outcome does not determine that the vaccine was the cause of death. The MHRA assesses information received through the Yellow Card scheme to determine the likelihood of an association between the vaccine and any suspected ADR. This involves consideration of the overall pattern of reports and whether more events than would normally be expected have occurred in the general population. However, the MHRA does not assess whether an individual’s death was directly caused by a vaccine.

Health: Equality

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish the Health Disparities White Paper.

Maggie Throup: Further information on the timing and plans for the white paper will be available in due course.

Jack Hurn

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2022 to Question 14408 on Jack Hurn, for what reason his Department does not proactively make an assessment of coroners' verdicts without prior receipt of a Prevention of Future Deaths Report; and whether he has had discussions with the Chief Coroner on that approach.

Maggie Throup: A Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report is issued under Regulation 28 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. It is the established legal process through which a coroner reports any findings which have given rise to concern that future deaths might occur unless action is taken. The PFD report is sent to a person or organisation the coroner considers has the power to take action, which they are obliged to respond to.The Department follows this legal process and awaits the coroner’s expert report before responding. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the relevant regulations and a coroner may send a PFD report to any and all Government Departments they consider appropriate. There have been no recent discussions with the Chief Coroner in relation to this approach.

Coronavirus and Influenza: Vaccination

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement of categories other than the over 50s who will be eligible for a flu jab and a covid-19 booster this autumn, what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) the health of school staff, (b) the transmission of covid-19 in educational settings, (c) the health of children of the decision not to include teachers and school support staff in the list of eligible categories.

Maggie Throup: The Government is guided by advice from the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. The JCVI advises that the primary objective of the autumn booster vaccination programme is to increase immunity in those at higher risk from severe illness and offer protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in winter 2022/23. Serious outcomes are disproportionately seen in older people or those with certain underlying health conditions. The JCVI advise that eligibility for the autumn programme should be towards those most vulnerable to such outcomes. Health and social care workers are included in the autumn campaign due to the high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and transmission to the clinically vulnerable individuals they care for. The JCVI’s advice is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jcvi-updated-statement-on-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-autumn-2022/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation-jcvi-updated-statement-on-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-autumn-2022

NHS Trusts: Telecommunications

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of NHS Trusts in England whose rental income from telecommunications apparatuses has reduced as a result of renegotiations with network or infrastructure providers since reforms of the Electronic Communications Code in 2017 came into effect; and if she will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: We have no plans to make a specific assessment as this information is not collected centrally. Local National Health Service organisations are responsible for the installation of electronic communications networks and the maintenance of related infrastructure.

NHS: Telecommunications

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of telecommunications network (a) operators and (b) infrastructure providers on the impact of the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code on NHS property income.

Gillian Keegan: We have had no specific discussions. Local National Health Service organisations are responsible for the installation of electronic communications networks and the maintenance of related infrastructure.

NHS: Telecommunications

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in his Department have had with officials in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the effect of reforms to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017 on NHS properties (a) before and (b) after the commencement of those reforms.

Gillian Keegan: There have been no specific discussions. Local National Health Service organisations are responsible for the installation of electronic communications networks and the maintenance of related infrastructure.

Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish data on the number of patients in inappropriate out of area placements as a result of no appropriate mental health services being available locally, broken down by primary diagnosis, for each year between 2010 and the most recent period for which figures are available.

Gillian Keegan: The information is not held in the format requested. While data on out of area placements is collected, this does not record a primary diagnosis. This data is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/out-of-area-placements-in-mental-health-services/april-2022

Dementia: Diagnosis

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to dementia diagnosis services in rural areas.

Gillian Keegan: NHS England has commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates in targeted areas in England. This will include on social and economic deprivation; rurality; demographic characteristics including age, ethnicity and educational attainment; and general health and life expectancy.In 2021, factsheets were published to encourage local conversations on understanding local patterns and potential reasons for trends in dementia diagnosis rates and identifying specific areas for support. In 2021/22, £17 million was made available to clinical commissioning groups to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses.

Medical Records: Ethnic Groups

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve ethnic coding in health records.

Gillian Keegan: The National Health Service Data Model and Dictionary reflects the latest approved Information Standard for the data submission of ethnicity categories in the NHS, using the Office for National Statistics’ 2001 categories. The content of these categories is updated when the Information Standards are amended.The NHS Data Model and Dictionary Service has contributed to a project to update these Standards. The project is currently finalising a report supporting the development of a ‘Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics’. This project is considering the update to the 2001 ethnicity categories and other protected characteristics described in the Equality Act 2010.

NHS: ICT

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national NHS IT services.

Gillian Keegan: The Spending Review in 2021 provided a national settlement for IT of £1.7 billion. We have allocated £0.5 billon for the maintenance of live services, with the balance supporting digital transformation programmes within health and social care. Funding will be released throughout the year in accordance with business case approvals. The information requested on local and regional allocations is not held centrally, as each integrated care system will determine the level of allocation to support digital and technology locally.

Care Workers: Conditions of Employment and Pay

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with private sector providers on improving pay and conditions for care workers.

Gillian Keegan: We have had no specific discussions. However, we recently met with a provider reference group to discuss workforce pressures in adult social care and the planned workforce reforms, which was attended by representatives from the sector. A further meeting with independent care providers is planned shortly.

Veterans: Mental Health Services

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Op COURAGE.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has bee made. However, as of April 2022, there have been more than 19,000 referrals to Op COURAGE. This includes 19,673 referrals to the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service since April 2017; 2,533 referrals to the Complex Treatment Service since April 2018; and 1,121 referrals to the High Intensity Service between 2020 and April 2022. From April 2023, an integrated Op COURAGE service will be available, incorporating the three current strands into a single service.

Carers: Finance

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in meeting the needs of carers who require financial support as a result of rising energy prices.

Gillian Keegan: The Government is providing support of over £37 billion to assist with rising costs of living, including higher energy costs. Unpaid carers living in low-income households claiming an income-related benefit may be entitled to receive the £650 Cost of Living Payment. Disabled carers on an eligible disability benefit may receive the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.Domestic energy customers will receive a £400 rebate through the Energy Bills Support Scheme and those paying Council Tax in Bands A to D in England have received a £150 rebate.

Arthritis: Surgery

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure integrated pre-operative, operative and post-operative care for people with arthritis.

Gillian Keegan: NHS England's Best MSK Health Collaborative is working with local systems, those with direct lived experience, patient groups and organisations representing clinicians to deliver integrated musculoskeletal services, including for those with arthritis. Through the Health and Care Act 2022 integrated care boards have a duty to promote integration where it would improve the quality of services and reduce inequalities of access or outcome.

Dementia: Diagnosis

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people awaiting a dementia diagnosis.

Gillian Keegan: The information is not held in the format requested.However, as of June 2022, NHS Digital estimates there are 698,345 people over 65 years old living with dementia, of which 447,415 have a recorded dementia diagnosis.

Care Homes: Physiotherapy

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken for care home residents to see a physiotherapist.

Gillian Keegan: No specific estimate has been made as the information requested is not collected centrally. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning physiotherapy services locally.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provision the 10 Year Cancer Plan will make for expanding system infrastructure to deliver radioligand therapy and other innovative cancer treatment.

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10 Year Cancer Plan will include provisions on expanding system infrastructure to deliver innovative cancer treatment such as radioligand therapy.

James Morris: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper MP) on 19 July 2022 to Question 33937.

Dental Services: South West

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.

James Morris: Since July 2022, NHS England have asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity to safely improve access for patients, including in Bournemouth East and the South West. The South West Dental Team are currently commissioning additional mandatory dental services in the region. Priority areas have been identified for access, based on replacing activity which ceased in 2021/22. Contract performance criteria for these new contracts will include the measurement and assessment of the number of additional new patients accepted for treatment and delivery against the Starting Well Core initiative. Contracts with a duration of four years will be awarded to commence in late summer 2022The Department and NHS England have recently announced measures to improve the National Health Service dental system to increase access for patients, target those with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams.

Pregnancy: Drugs

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future: The Case for UK Leadership in the Development of Safe Medicines for Use in Pregnancy, published in May 2022, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in that report.

James Morris: The Department has noted the recommendations of the report. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency recently completed a public consultation on legislative powers to support diversity in clinical trial populations, including pregnancy and individuals who are breast feeding. The responses are being analysed and the Government’s response will be published later this year.The Clinical Practice Research Datalink is currently being developed as a resource for studying the safety of medicines use in pregnancy via a new expanded Pregnancy Register. This includes anonymised data on 24.5 million pregnancy episodes in seven million women. The Registry will increase the ability to study rare exposures and outcomes and improve healthcare advice for women.

Dental Services: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than three months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than six months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than one year.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than 18 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than two years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than 30 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than 42 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than 54 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than three years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than four years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been on the NHS dentistry waiting list in Plymouth for more than five years.

James Morris: No specific estimate has been made. The information requested is not held centrally, as appointments for National Health Service treatment are managed locally by dental practices. The Department and NHS England have recently announced measures to improve the NHS dental system to increase access for patients, target those with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams.

Primary Health Care: Genetics

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of genomic data in primary care settings on (a) patient outcomes and (b) the accuracy of diagnoses; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of that use.

James Morris: No formal assessment has been made. Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service as outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory. Healthcare professionals in primary care settings can refer a patient for genomic testing according to the eligibility and referral criteria in the Test Directory, which may involve a referral to the relevant specialist service, including clinical genetics services. NHS England has a policy in place to ensure that genomic testing continues to be available for all patients where it would be of clinical benefit, which considers any impact on primary care.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Energy

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support (a) Wilson Stuart School in Erdington and (b) other special academies to cover the costs of higher energy bills to ensure that they do not have to make cuts to other parts of their budget.

Will Quince: The department is aware schools are facing cost pressures, especially around energy costs. Cost pressures should be seen in the wider context of funding for schools. This government continues to deliver year on year increases to the core schools budget with a £7 billion cash increase in funding by the 2024/25 financial year, compared with the 2021/22 financial year, taking total funding to £56.8 billion by 2024/25. As a result, we can announce that high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs, including funding for the special schools in which many of them are educated, is increasing in the 2022/23 financial year by £1 billion, to a total of £9.1 billion.Special schools, including Wilson Stuart School, should discuss with the local authorities placing pupils in their schools, how much high needs funding is passed on to them for helping with energy and other cost increases. Birmingham will attract a high needs funding increase of 15.6% per head of their population aged 2 to 18 this year, compared to the previous financial year’s allocation, bringing their total high needs funding allocation in the 2022/23 financial year to £243.5 million.In addition, all schools can access the department’s schools resource management (SRM) offer. This includes a range of practical tools and information to help schools unlock efficiencies, for example, by saving money on regular purchases and avoiding paying ‘over the odds’ for services like energy, insurance, or recruitment advertising, which they can then reinvest in line with their own priorities.The SRM offer includes the Get Help Buying for Schools service, which provides specialist support, advice, and guidance for schools around their procurement activity. The service signposts schools to ‘department-recommended’ frameworks for schools and trusts to recommended deals for energy costs and services relating to energy, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools/energy.

Students: Finance

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Answer of 20 October 2021 to Question 57279, what further consideration her Department has given to establishing a Takaful-based funding structure for financial support for students in higher and further education.

Andrea Jenkyns: The department remains committed to delivering an Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product compatible with Islamic finance principles. We want all learners with the potential to benefit from a higher education to be able to do so.We are introducing a Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE), which will significantly change the ways students can access learning and financial support. We are currently considering if and how ASF can be delivered as part of the LLE.We believe it is sensible to align future delivery of an ASF product with these major reforms to ensure fair treatment for all students.

Home Education: Registration

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to provisions in the Schools Bill, what steps he has taken to ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place around the (a) use and (b) protection of the data collected as part of the proposed requirements to create a register of home schooled children; what assessment he has made of the compatibility of those provisions with GDPR; and to whom that register will be accessible.

Will Quince: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. The proposed ‘children not in school’ registers are intended to help with the identification of children being educated otherwise than at school, so that local authorities can undertake their existing responsibilities, to ensure all children are receiving a suitable education. All local authorities will be required to process personal data they collect and store on their register in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. This legislation requires each local authority, as a data controller, only to collect and store the minimum personal data necessary and to protect and restrict access to the personal data by implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures. Policy changes which require personal data processing, such as the ‘children not in school’ registers, are subject to scrutiny by the data protection officer (DPO) and their team, as part of the Data Protection Impact Assessment. The DPO will discuss requirement with the Information Commissioner’s Officer as part of their duties under the ‘prior notification’ obligations in Article 36 of the UK GDPR. This will ensure there are safeguards in place to protect the data on local authority registers.

Pupils: Travel

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of (a) inflation, (b) rising fuel prices and (c) other increases in the cost of living on the cost of children's journeys to school.

Will Quince: The department understands that many people are worried about the impact of rising prices, with many households struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the basics.Although the department cannot insulate people from these cost rises completely, we are stepping up to provide support, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic.   The government is providing £37 billion of support this year, targeted at those who are most in need. The package will see millions of the most vulnerable households receive at least £1,200 of support in total this year to help with the cost of living, with all domestic electricity customers receiving at least £400 to help with their bills.The government’s dedicated website provides more information about the broader cost of living support, which is available here: https://costoflivingsupport.campaign.gov.uk/.The department’s home to school transport policy aims to ensure that no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, because of their special educational needs or disability, or because the route is unsafe. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families, aimed at helping them exercise school choice. Home to school travel and transport guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance.

Climate Change: Education

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) educate and (b) empower children and young people with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the climate emergency.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he will make additional funding available to schools for the purposes of improving their environmental sustainability.

Will Quince: Within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework, as well as the national curriculum, all children learn about nature, the causes and impacts of climate change and the importance of sustainability.An environmental science A level is already available, and, by 2025, the department aims to introduce a natural history GCSE, giving young people a further opportunity to develop a deeper knowledge of the natural world.By considering the whole physical education estate as a virtual National Education Nature Park, the department will engage children and young people with the natural world and directly involve them in measuring and improving biodiversity in their nursery, school, college, or university, thus developing knowledge and skills relevant for a changing world.A Climate Leaders Award will complement classroom learning and allow the department to celebrate education providers, children, and young people for developing their connection with nature and making a contribution to a sustainable future.The department recognises the importance of meeting the challenge to make schools sustainable. Our new Sustainability and Climate Change strategy, published on 21 April 2022, sets out how we are gathering evidence on new technologies and innovative approaches to retrofitting school buildings to make them greener.Since 2015, the department has allocated over £13 billion in capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings, which can support improvements to energy efficiency. In addition, the school rebuilding programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, with all new buildings being net zero carbon in operation. The department continues to work with the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help education providers access the £1.4 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department's buildings will be lit up in purple to recognise Developmental Language Disorder Day on 14 October 2022.

Will Quince: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.For all celebrations and awareness raising events where the department may light up its buildings, it reviews what equipment is necessary to support the event and assess any security implications. The department will then make a decision on how it can best use its building to reflect support for that particular cause. This review has not yet taken place.

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Education

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to The Khan review: making smoking obsolete, published on 9 June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation to include the (a) risks of and (b) age restrictions for vaping in the school health education curriculum.

Will Quince: The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance includes content on drugs, as a supplement to drug education which is part of the national curriculum for science in key stages 2 and 3.The guidance sets out that in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug-taking. Additionally, in secondary school, pupils should be taught the associated legal and psychological risks of taking drugs.To support schools, the department published a suite of teacher training modules and non- statutory guidance. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. This includes a module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes (vaping) and includes information on the age restrictions and laws around both legal and illegal drugs to protect young people.The department is developing plans for monitoring implementation of RSHE over time, including measuring teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements, and whether additions or other changes to the curriculum will be required.

Children's Commissioner for England

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the agreement which his Department has made with the Children's Commissioner for England allowing her to take up a director position on the School-Led Development Trust, which is funded by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the arrangements in place to ensure that the Children's Commissioner for England maintains independence from (a) Government and (b) organisations outside Government.

Will Quince: The Children’s Commissioner’s role, functions, powers, and independence are set out in the Children Act 2004. Pursuant to Schedule 1 of the Children Act 2004, the Children’s Commissioner for England is a Corporate Sole and, therefore, independent from government and not to be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown. The School-Led Development Trust (SLDT) is running the National Institute of Teaching under contract to the department. SLDT is currently a private limited company seeking independent charitable status and, as such, it is responsible for their own recruitment processes for staff and trustees. The Children’s Commissioner has declared her role as Trustee of SLDT on the Office of Children’s Commissioner website under its register of interests.

GCE A-level and GCSE: Assessments

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement made by the Chief Regulator of Ofqual on 30 September 2021 that exam results in 2022 will "reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019", what recent estimate Ofqual has made of the likely distribution of (a) A-Level and (b) GCSE grades in summer 2022.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement by the Chief Regulator of Ofqual on 30 September 2021 that exam results in 2022 will "reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019", whether (a) his Department or (b) UCAS have made a recent assessment of the number of students who will miss the requirements of their firm offer to study at university, relative to the numbers who missed such requirements in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2019.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement by the Chief Regulator of Ofqual on 30 September 2021 that exam results in 2022 will "reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019", whether he is taking steps he is taking to inform parents of students that overall exam grades awarded for GCSEs, AS levels and A levels in summer 2022 are expected to be lower than those awarded in summer 2021.

Andrea Jenkyns: The department is clear that exams are the best and fairest form of assessment for students to show what they know and can do. In 2022, students have taken exams and assessments in A levels, T Levels, and other post-16 qualifications for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These examinations took place with adaptations to reflect the disruption young people have faced to their education throughout the pandemic.The grading of GCSEs, AS, and A levels is a decision for Ofqual, as the independent regulator of qualifications. This summer, results will be higher than when summer exams were last sat, but lower than in 2021, when grades were awarded by teacher assessment. This means the bar for achieving an A, for example, will not be as high as it might have been in 2019.The department has asked Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member about the distribution of A level and GCSE grades in summer 2022, and the steps they are taking to inform parents about grading. A copy of her reply will be placed in the library of both Houses.The department has, in collaboration with Ofqual, worked closely with the higher education (HE) sector in shaping the decisions around exams and assessments in 2022. Following Ofqual’s September 2021 announcement on grading, universities have set entry requirements and made offers to students according to this approach. Throughout the year, we have worked with the HE sector to brief providers on the approach to grading with extensive planning ahead of results day, including on operational readiness, and ensuring support is in place for students, whatever their next steps might be this summer.Record numbers of students have applied to university this year. UCAS is expecting the majority of firm offer holders to gain a place at their firm choice university on A level and T Level results day. Students can have confidence that getting into HE is a fair process, with admissions teams taking into account the broad range of information about a student in addition to their predicted grades, including teacher references, and for certain courses with a 15 October application deadline, their performance in admissions tests.

Department for Education: Pay

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors, and (c) agency workers who work in her Department and relevant agencies and public bodies, receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London, or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London, as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Will Quince: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 July 2022 to Question 30189.

Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people held electronic purchasing cards that allowed them to make purchases against her Department's budget as of 31 March 2022.

Will Quince: As of 8 July 2022, 77 officials hold electronic purchasing cards that allow them to make purchases on behalf of the Department for Education. This number comprises 57 officials in the department and 20 officials in its executive agencies.While the population of officials holding cards is largely static, it has not been possible to verify the exact number on 31 March 2022 in the time available to respond.

Department for Education: Workplace Pensions

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department will spend on the pension entitlement of the Secretary of State for Education for her time served in position from 5 to 7 July 2022.

Will Quince: Under Ministerial Pension Scheme rules, there are no pension contributions for the former Secretary of State for Education, funded by the department. The scheme rules for the Ministerial Pension Scheme are available here ministerial-pension-scheme-rules.pdf (mypcpfpension.co.uk)

Department for Education: Pay

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Living Wage Foundation's real wage calculator, if he will make estimate of how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors and (c) agency workers who work in his Department and relevant agencies and public bodies receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.

Will Quince: The table below shows the department’s estimate, including its agencies and arm’s length bodies, of the number of direct employees, contractors and agency workers who receive a wage below either the UK Real Living Wage or the London Living Wage. Table 1: Estimate of the number of people paid below the UK Real Living Wage or the London Living Wage. Based outside of Greater London and receive a wage below the UK Real Living WageBased inside Greater London and receive a wage below the London Living WageDirect employeesLess than 1,500 employeesLess than 5 employeesContractors00Agency workers00

Schools: Repairs and Maintenance

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to announce the schools selected from the third round of the School Rebuilding Programme.

Will Quince: On 12 July 2022, the department announced the next round of 61 schools to be included in the school rebuilding programme. A list of these schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-approved-schools/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-prioritised-schools.The department is assessing all other nominations and we intend to make another announcement later this year to confirm additional schools, selecting up to 300 in total in the 2022/23 financial year.

Primary Education: Class Sizes

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size in primary schools was in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley, (c) Greater London and (d) England on 4 July 2022.

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size in secondary schools was in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley, (c) Greater London and (d) England on 4 July 2022.

Will Quince: The department does not hold figures on class sizes for dates throughout the year. Class size is recorded annually on the January school census day and is regarded as a representative sample of class size. The figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. The table below shows the average primary and secondary class sizes for the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London and England and for the 2021/22 academic year. LocationClass Type Average class size in the 2021/22 academic yearBexleyheath and CrayfordPrimary27.9 Secondary24.4London Borough of BexleyPrimary27.5 Secondary22.3Greater LondonPrimary26.4 Secondary22.1EnglandPrimary26.6 Secondary23.4

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Weather

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that conditions in (a) prisons, (b) police cells, (c) immigration detention and (d) escort vans are safe during the level 4 heat-health alert.

Simon Baynes: We have worked closely with the prison estate during this period of hot weather to ensure they are appropriately prepared. Heatwave guidance in line with the Heatwave Plan for England was issued to the whole prison estate on 15th June in anticipation of hot weather, and further advice issued on 15th July to all prison governors to support them with managing the situation at the local level. We remain in close contact.As well as providing information on safety for the general prison population and for staff, the guidance covers support for vulnerable groups identified by the UK Health Security Agency as at greater risk in heatwaves. The guidance encourages joint working with NHS prison health services to identify and support people with vulnerabilities.The vehicles providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) were introduced in 2020/21, and all have air conditioning. Court custody suites are routinely monitored with calibrated temperature monitoring equipment. HMCTS and PECS have an agreed process in place for the management of extreme temperatures and work closely together to ensure a safe operating environment. When appropriate measures can include the closure and the use of alternative courts.The Home Office manage Immigration Detention Centres (IRCs). They have confirmed that, in line with the Detention Centre Rules 2001 and Short-Term Holding Facility Rules 2018, detained individuals are given the opportunity to spend at least one hour in the open air each day. As part of planning for the level 4 heat health alert all IRCs have adequate stocks of bottled water for residents. Summer clothing and sun cream are also provided on request.As part of the planning for the level 4 heat health alert all police forces should have sufficient availability of food and water in custody suites and contingency plans in place for maintaining operational capability. In addition, local plans may include the effective use of bail or voluntary attendance to ensure that periods in police detention are kept to a minimum.The Home Office publish guidance on Gov.uk (at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accommodation-lighting-heating-and-ventilation) regarding accommodation standards for those in detention, which includes minimum requirements for space and ventilation

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has an agreed staffing level for contracts.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is an agreed staffing level for upcoming contracts for (a) HMP Fosse way and (b) HMP Welllingborough.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Ministry of Justice sets minimum staffing levels as Key Performance Indicators for (a) HMP Lowdham Grange and (b) other rebids.

Simon Baynes: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not mandate minimum staffing levels for privately managed prisons as staffing is the responsibility of the contract operators who will be responsible for operational delivery within those prisons. Staffing levels are specific to each individual prison and competition, and each contract provider’s individual operating model. However, as part of the procurement exercise for any privately managed prison and, prior to the award of the contracts for Five Wells, Fosse Way and all other prisons competed under the Prison Operator Services Framework (including any expiring PFI prison such as HMP Lowdham Grange), we robustly scrutinise all aspects of each bid. This includes a rigorous assessment of their resourcing model to test its resilience and ability to deliver the regime they propose, and to deliver a safe, decent and secure operating environment at all times. These agreed staffing levels are contractualised and we hold bidders to account to them. The amount of detail and information about staffing, including numbers and grades of staff, in the new contracts is significantly improved from the old style PFI contracts. These new contracts include HMP Five Wells, HMP Fosse Way and any other prison that is competed under the Prison Operator Services Framework (including any expiring PFI prison such as HMP Lowdham Grange). Staffing levels are monitored against those contained in the contract as Management Information (MI), not as a KPI. Each year the contract operator is required to show how it will provide the Custodial Service and Sustainability Requirements in the Annual Custodial Service Delivery Plan. As part of this, an Annual Resourcing Plan is drawn up, highlighting any departure from the Plan for the preceding Contract Year and giving reasons for such departure. This must be approved by HMPPS. The approach taken through the competitions ensures that staffing levels contained in the contract deliver the service and maintain a safe, decent, and secure operating level. Management throughout the life of the contracts against that resource model is undertaken by HMPPS and MoJ Commercial contract management teams who continually assess the capability of the operator, taking action if the operator should fail to deliver in accordance with the Contract.

Pre-sentence Reports: Ethnic Groups

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by HM Inspectorate of Probation, Race equality in probation: the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic probation service users and staff, published in March 2021, which states that pre-sentence reports prepared for people from a BAME background were of insufficient quality, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of those reports.

Simon Baynes: While the decision of whether to order a pre-sentence report (PSR) is up to the discretion of the judiciary, we recognise their importance and are working to improve their quality, targeting and timeliness. In March 2021 HMPPS published a response to the HMIP report in the form of a detailed Action Plan responding to the recommendations within it. This document sets out how the Probation Service is improving the quality of PSRs for ethnic minority individuals. An example of this work is demonstrated through the PSR pilot which is running in 15 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. Amongst other activities the pilot has:Identified priority cohorts understood to have more complex needs (female offenders, young adult offenders, and offenders who are deemed to be at risk of custody). Ethnic minority service users have made up a proportion of the initial three priority cohorts but as of August 2022 we are going further to include these individuals explicitly as an additional priority cohort. The pilot will deliver more comprehensive, written PSRs rather than oral reports for these cohorts.Seen more PSRs delivered to these courts in comparison with national counterparts.Captured data relating to PSRs completed for ethnic minority individuals to better understand what changes are required from both an operational and policy perspective.Created a learning and development package focussed on building communications and advocacy skills, tackling racial disparities in the criminal justice system and learning how to become trauma informed and responsive to better support defendants. More widely the HMPPS Race Action Programme is working to tackle the racial disparities that persist in the Criminal Justice System by increasing the diversity of our workforces, addressing the risk of bias in our policies, and improving training delivered to staff on race issues in probation, prison, and youth custody settings.

Department for International Trade

Whisky: Scotland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of rising shipping costs on the Scotch whisky industry.

Andrew Griffith: The importance of the Scotch whisky industry to the UK economy is recognised, providing £5.5bn Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy and supporting more than 42,000 jobs across the country. The Department for International Trade engages regularly with The Scotch Whisky Association and individual whisky producers to support opportunities in overseas markets through Free Trade Agreements and understand challenges the industry may face. We closely monitor global trading conditions to assess the impact of factors such as shipping costs on our key export industries.

Whisky: Scotland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the role of the Scotch whisky industry in supporting trade relations with international markets.

Andrew Griffith: UK food and drink, including Scotch whisky, is renowned worldwide for its quality and provenance. It underpins the UK’s strong reputation in global trade of goods. In 2021, global Scotch whisky exports were worth £4.5bn to the UK economy. The Department for International Trade works closely with trade associations in the drinks industry, business representative organisations and the UK’s whisky producers to maximise opportunities in overseas markets for this outstanding British industry and to support UK trade relations in international markets.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Maira Shahbaz

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Home Secretary on the case of Maira Shahbaz.

Graham Stuart: It is longstanding Government policy not to comment on individual cases, where to do so may put individuals or their family members in danger.

Alexander Lebedev

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department were first notified by the then Foreign Secretary of his meeting with Alexander Lebedev in April 2018.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member to the Prime Minister's letter to the Liaison Committee of 21 July; a copy of this letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Alexander Lebedev

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) other relevant stakeholders on imposing sanctions on Alexander Lebedev.

Graham Stuart: We do not speculate on future designations, or on cross-government discussions on potential targets. To do this could reduce the impact of designations. We have now sanctioned over 1000 individuals, and over 100 businesses since Putin's invasion of Ukraine including oligarchs worth £117 billion. We will not stop targeting Russia's economy until Ukraine prevails. The UK Government, along with our international allies, is working to ensure that happens.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of Ukrainian civilians forcibly transferred to Russia.

Graham Stuart: The UK has supported multilateral fact-finding mechanisms to monitor Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including two OSCE Moscow Mechanism reports, which found evidence of clear violations of international law by Russian forces in Ukraine. These reports also noted with concern the issue of large-scale deportations of Ukrainian civilians to Russia. However, we are unable to verify the exact number of Ukrainian civilians forcibly deported to Russia, due to lack of access by international human rights and humanitarian institutions.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Iran nuclear deal.

Amanda Milling: Iran has been non-compliant with its nuclear commitments since 2019. Iran's nuclear programme has never been more advanced than it is today. Iran's escalation of its nuclear activities is threatening regional and international peace and security and undermining the global non-proliferation system.We have reached the end of talks in Vienna to restore the nuclear deal. There is a viable deal on the table which would return Iran to compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments, and return the US to the deal. The deal would reverse Iran's nuclear escalation, return Iran's nuclear programme to strict JCPoA limits and restore extensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency. If Iran fails to conclude the deal its nuclear escalation will cause the collapse the JCPoA. In this scenario we would carefully consider all options in partnership with our allies.

Bahrain: Human Rights

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Middle East Minister visits Gulf to deepen economic ties, published on 7 July 2022, on what basis the Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East congratulated the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs for that country's continued progress in human rights.

Amanda Milling: My visit to Bahrain from 2-3 July provided an opportunity to discuss a wide range of human rights issues with senior Bahraini counterparts. This included the introduction by Bahrain of alternative sentencing legislation, which has so far benefitted over 4,300 individuals and the passing of a new Restorative Justice Law for children which, among other things, raises the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 15. We welcome the entry into force of this legislation and continue to support Government of Bahrain efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.

Development Aid: Health Services

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK Government’s strategy for international development, published in May 2022, what funding has been allocated to programmes focused on delivering universal, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Amanda Milling: As set out in the International Development Strategy, the Foreign Secretary has said the UK Government intends to restore bilateral funding for women and girls, which includes programmes focused on universal, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working to complete its business and country planning process as soon as possible, which will allow us to finalise budget allocations, taking account of our Spending Review settlement. We cannot comment on funding allocations until this is finalised.

Vaccination

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that reversing decreasing levels of immunisation is a priority issue at the (a) 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and (b) G20 Heads of State and Government Summit.

Amanda Milling: The pandemic has placed substantial strain on immunisation programmes, with increasing numbers of children not receiving even the most basic vaccinations. The UK is the top donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance's core mission. £1.65 billion of UK funding in 2021-25 will support countries to restore immunisation coverage and vaccinate children missed during the pandemic.UNGA 77 and G20 discussions this year provide opportunities to maintain momentum on global health. The UK will continue across international fora to champion health system strengthening and the critical role of strong, resilient and accessible health systems in supporting primary health care and essential services, including routine immunisation.

Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of the UK's pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria on the UK’s international reputation.

Amanda Milling: The Global Fund is a high performing organisation that, with partners, has saved 44 million lives to date. The UK is proud to be the organisation's third largest donor historically, investing £4.1 billion since 2002. We are currently reviewing the Global Fund's 7th replenishment investment case in line with delivering the International Development Strategy.

Abduljalil al-Singace

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Middle East Minister visits Gulf to deepen economic ties, published on 7 July 2022, whether the Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East held discussions with her Bahraini counterpart on the case of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace.

Amanda Milling: Officials and ministers have regular discussions with senior Bahraini counterparts on human rights, including most recently during my visit to Bahrain from 2-3 July.We continue to follow and discuss the cases of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace and others with the Bahraini Government as well as with the independent oversight bodies. We continue to encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the appropriate Bahraini oversight body.

Gulf Strategy Fund

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what date she plans to publish the 2022 annual Gulf Strategy Fund Programme Summary.

Amanda Milling: The Gulf Strategy Fund Programme Summary will be published on the August cross-Whitehall publication day, which is scheduled to take place on 25 August.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last reviewed the human resource policies of non-departmental public bodies within the defence sector; and what assessment his Department has made of the level of adherence to human resources best practice of those bodies.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the appraisal procedures in place for the performance of staff of non-departmental public bodies in the defence sector.

Leo Docherty: For those Non-Departmental Public Bodies that employ public servants, responsibility for their human resources policy is delegated to the organisation.

Air Force: HIV Infection

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2022 to Question 15762 on Air Force: HIV Infection, whether the revised policy to lift the restriction on PrEP use by aircrew and air traffic controllers in the Royal Air Force is on target to be implemented by August 2022.

Leo Docherty: The RAF Manual of Medical Fitness (AP1269A) policy concerning the use of PrEP by military aircrew and controllers has now been ratified by the Aviation Medical Standards Steering Group. This revised policy is now in use and will be published in due course in AP1269A.

Veterans: Identity Cards

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Veterans have received their Veteran ID card under the Veteran's Recognition Scheme as of 18 July 2022.

Leo Docherty: As of 30 June 2022, 51,404 service leavers had received Veterans' Recognition Cards. As announced during Armed Forces week, more than £1 million in new money is being invested into a new digital service for veterans, due to be available for all veterans in 2023, which will make it easier and quicker to demonstrate military service in order to access a range of government and charity services. This, in turn, will help ensure that Recognition Cards are given only to those with verified service. The Government remains committed to delivering Veterans' Recognition Cards and will advise of a timescale for final delivery when this work is complete.

Armed Forces: Discharges

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average age is for (a) male and (b) female service personnel to be discharged from the armed forces.

Leo Docherty: The average age for male Regular Service personnel to leave the Armed Forces is 30. For female Regular Service personnel, the average age is 31.

Armed Forces: Criminal Investigation

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to combat victim blaming when investigating in-service bullying, harassment, sexual assault and rape cases.

Leo Docherty: On 19 July 2022 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) published a series of new policies as part of our commitment to deal with unacceptable behaviour: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ministry-of-defence-policies-to-tackle-unacceptable-behaviourAmong these new policies includes measures aimed at tackling victim blaming. The policy 'Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour: A Victim/Survivor Focused Approach' outlines the MOD's policy on victim blaming at heading 3:"Supporting people who are victims of unacceptable sexual behaviour must be our priority. Defence wants to ensure that victims of unacceptable sexual behaviour trust that they can report such behaviour, that their report will be listened to, and that they will be supported throughout any investigation. Commanding Officers (COs) are to take this responsibility to victims extremely seriously and any indications that a sexual offence has taken place must be referred to the Service Police. Defence must ensure that victims have the confidence that that their complaint will be investigated in an appropriate and sensitive way and that appropriate action will be taken against any person displaying unacceptable behaviour."

Defence: Procurement

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reform the defence procurement system.

Jeremy Quin: The Department is committed to continuous reform of its procurement process to make it more agile and to ensure it delivers the best possible value for money. Our continuing improvement agenda across Defence acquisition covers five themes: *Improving cost estimating and cost control*Improving relationships with industry*Delivering strategic intent and Defence priorities through our requirements*Empowering and enabling programme leadership*Streamlining acquisition and approvals processes and addressing project resourcing challenges. Steps the Department is currently taking include:*Enhancing the capability and capacity of Senior Responsible Owners*Improving commercial and project delivery skills*Streamlining investment decision-making processes to reduce duplication and drive pace*Supporting the Cabinet Office-led reforms to the UK's public procurement regime, leading on sector specific rules for Defence and Security. This is consistent with our commitment in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy, published in March 2021, to increasing the pace and agility of our acquisition processes.

Armed Forces: Body Armour

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) health and safety and (c) comfort of the current standard of military body armour.

Jeremy Quin: VIRTUS is the current military body armour used by personnel across Defence. Military body armour is designed to improve the wearer’s survivability by protecting them from a variety of blast and fragmentation threats; but it also must be balanced against the wider system requirements – specifically mobility and lethality. Combat effectiveness is measured by the overall interaction between protection, mobility, and firepower. The current military body armour (VIRTUS) has been developed with DSTL and assessed against industry standards. It was developed to address previously identified capability gaps. It was subjected to field and lab trials testing which concluded that the VIRTUS system increased agility and overall performance.. Military body armour (VIRTUS) complies with current UK Health and Safety at Work legal requirements and meets all other legal and Ministry of Defence obligations. The current in service body armour (VIRTUS) was consistently rated more favourably in respect of comfort than the other systems in the majority of questions during initial trials, and subjective evaluations relating to usability and functionality were predominately positive. Defence is constantly seeking to refine the capability, and has recently developed a wider variety of body armour accessories for those with smaller statures.

Air Force: Military Bases

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that runways at RAF bases are resilient to extreme temperatures.

Jeremy Quin: All Ministry of Defence (MOD) runways are subject to an inspection and maintenance programme to ensure that MOD runways remain safe to operate.Runway materials are produced to a specification for use in the UK and used in Cyprus and Gibraltar. Material specifications are continually reviewed and updated for greater performance, including for use in higher operating temperatures.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Children

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the level of children living in poverty in Lewisham Deptford constituency.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of child poverty in Lewisham Deptford constituency.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the End Child Poverty Coalition and the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University report, published July 2022, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of children in poverty.

David Rutley: The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the seven years, 2014/15 to 2020/21, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In October to December 2021 there were nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK compared to 2010. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all Jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. Our plan for jobs is providing results. As of 6 July, we estimate that at least 520,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 30 June 2022.We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work. This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 (on average) a year through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances.To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Vouchers by a third to £4.25 a week. On top of this, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, that is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year. This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, the current Household Support Fund is already providing £421m of support for the period 1 April – 30 September 2022, at least a third (£140m) will be spent on families with children. Lewisham Council has been allocated £2,668,537.62

Poverty: Children

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle child poverty in (a) England and (b) Enfield North constituency.

David Rutley: This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. Our plan for jobs is providing results. As of 6 July, we estimate that at least 520,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 30 June 2022.We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work. This is on top of the support we have already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour and giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 (on average) a year through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances.To further support parents to move into and progress in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. This is on top of the free childcare offer in England which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds and disadvantaged 2-year-olds, doubling for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week.Around 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal, saving families around £450 per year. In addition, around 1.25 million more infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime as well as over 90,000 disadvantaged further education students. We are also investing £200 million a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which benefitted over 600,000 children last summer, and we have increased the value of the Healthy Start Vouchers by a third to £4.25 a week. On top of this, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, that is why the government is providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year. This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, the current Household Support Fund is already providing £421m of support for the period 1 April – 30 September 2022, at least a third (£140m) will be spent on families with children. Enfield Council has been allocated £9,436,542.83.

Universal Credit: Housing

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants moving to Universal Credit by managed migration will be able to choose to have their Housing Element paid directly to their landlord from day one of their claim.

David Rutley: Payments of housing costs can be made direct to landlords at any point during a Universal Credit claim where the claimant is vulnerable, has rent arrears or there is a risk of eviction. The need for such arrangement may be identified by DWP staff or requested by the claimant, their appointee, caseworker or landlord. For those migrating to Universal Credit who had Housing Benefit paid direct to their landlord, the need for payment to landlord is always considered from the start of the Universal Credit claim.

Universal Credit: Lewisham Deptford

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact that the total amount deducted from Universal Credit is having on families living in poverty in Lewisham Deptford constituency.

David Rutley: The standard deductions cap of 25% of a claimant’s Universal Credit Standard Allowance strikes the right balance of ensuring priority debts are repaid whilst ensuring claimants retain most of their award to meet day-to-day needs. In recent years, the standard deductions cap has been reduced twice – from 40% to 30% of the Standard Allowance in October 2019, and down to 25% in April 2021. Reducing the threshold further would risk key social obligations such as Child Maintenance not being met. For DWP Debt deductions, if a claimant is struggling financially, they can contact DWP Debt Management to discuss a reduction in their repayment, or temporary suspension, depending on financial circumstances.

Social Security Benefits: EU Law

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people fall under Article 30 of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018, and are therefore subject to EU Social Security Coordination rules in respect of benefit support in (a) the UK, (b) Wales and (c) Ceredigion constituency.

David Rutley: The Department does not hold this information.

Social Security Benefits: Mortality Rates

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the number of people claiming social security benefits on the mortality rate in England.

David Rutley: The Department for Work and Pensions has not made an assessment.

Social Security Benefits: Mental Health

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact on the mental health of people receiving benefits of the recent increase in the cost of living.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what resources her Department has allocated to improving the mental health of people receiving benefits.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people on benefits who have received mental health support in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: No specific assessment has been made on the impact on the mental health of people receiving benefits of the recent increase in the cost of living. The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living: that is why it is providing over £37 billion of support this year. This includes the £650 Cost of Living Payment which is designed to target support at low-income households on means-tested benefits. In addition, 6 million eligible disabled people will receive a one-off, disability Cost of Living Payment of £150. And pensioner households will receive a separate one-off payment of £300 (through and as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment). People that are receiving benefits can access mental health support in a number of ways such as seeking a referral from GP in the first instance. In addition, all NHS mental health providers have established 24/7 all-age urgent mental health helplines for people in crisis or for those worried about someone who may be experiencing a mental health crisis. Details of these helplines are available on the NHS website at: Where to get urgent help for mental health - NHS (www.nhs.uk). Administrative data on mental health support and benefit receipt are not routinely linked so we cannot estimate the number of people on benefits who receive mental health support. Evidence suggests that good, appropriate paid work can be beneficial for individuals' health and wellbeing. We offer specialist support for people with mental health conditions to stay in and return to work, often working jointly with the health system, through: our Employment Advice in Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (EAs in IAPT) services. Since 2017 we have invested a total of £82million on expanding the number of EAs in IAPT services and we have committed to expand the service across England. Evidence on EAs in IAPT found that those receiving employment support in addition to mental health support showed greater improvements to their mental health compared to those receiving mental health support alone. In addition, those out of work on entry to the EAs in IAPT service were more likely to be active in the labour market (through employment or looking for employment) at the end of their treatment than those receiving mental health support alone. Employment Advisers (EAs) work with JCP colleagues to ensure that JCP clients who could benefit from IAPT treatment are signposted to receive an IAPT assessment.the Access to Work Mental Health Support Servicethe Mental Health and Productivity Pilot across the Midlands Engine region, which seeks out opportunities to improve productivity through improving employee's mental health.our trials of Individual Placement and Support for people with common mental health and/or physical health conditions. We will also work closely with DHSC and other government departments in supporting the new cross government 10-year plan for mental health and wellbeing for England.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Litter

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect wildlife and nature reserves from littering in the context of summer tourism.

Steve Double: Defra published the Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, setting out our aim to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. The Litter Strategy brings together communities, businesses, charities and schools to bring about real change by focusing on three key themes: education and awareness; improving enforcement; and better cleaning and access to bins.In response to COVID-19, Defra developed a 'Respect the Outdoors' campaign to encourage people to follow the Countryside Code and to highlight the impacts of littering. We also supported, and provided funding for, Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks campaign, which encouraged people to treat our parks with respect.We have also consulted on introducing a deposit return scheme. Our current impact assessment assumes that the scheme can reduce drinks containers being littered by an estimated 85%.Furthermore, the Chewing Gum Task Force, established by Defra, has recently launched a grant scheme to help local authorities clean gum off pavements in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum being dropped in the first place. It is the first project of a five-year programme that will see chewing gum producers invest up to £10m to tackle gum staining.Natural England supports the Countryside Code campaign through a range of communications channels including social media and engaging with commercial partners who help to promote the Code. In addition, Natural England also supports these efforts across its National Nature Reserves through on-site wardens and volunteers who engage with visitors as well as holding community litter pick days.

Rivers: Swimming

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to increase the number of sites with designated bathing water status.

Steve Double: Bathing waters are designated through an application process and Defra welcomes applications for designation for both coastal and inland waters such as rivers. Local authorities, groups and individuals can apply for sites to be designated. Defra encourages this by writing to the Chief Executive of every local authority in England and other key stakeholders such as swimming associations. It is these local authorities and stakeholders who will best know which popular bathing areas may be suitable for designation. My department provides guidance to assist those in making an application for a new bathing water designation. As part of the review of bathing waters policy in England, we plan to produce revised guidance this year to make it easier for applicants to understand the criteria for bathing water status and ensure only necessary information is requested.For further information, please visit our web page on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bathing-waters

Rivers: Sewage

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers from his Department have had with representatives of water companies since 1 April 2022 on the discharge of raw sewage into waterways.

Steve Double: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 13 July 2022 to PQ 31060.

Rivers: Swimming

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for bathing water status (a) have been made, (b) are pending, (c) have been granted and (d) have been rejected since January 2021.

Steve Double: Since January 2021, Defra has received five applications for designated bathing water status. Two of these applications resulted in designations, one did not meet the required criteria as set out in the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, and the remaining two applications did not contain the required supporting evidence, however we expect both applications to be resubmitted at some point this year. We provide feedback and advice to all applicants whose application does not get taken forward.

Home Office

UK Border Force: Dover Port and Manston Airport

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport since 17 March 2022 on Border Force’s private security contractors in (a) the Port of Dover and (b) Manston Airport.

Kevin Foster: The Department for Transport is not involved in the asylum operations at Dover or Manston. There have therefore been no discussions with the Department for Transport about the use of private security contractors at the Home Office facilities at Dover and Manston.

UK Border Force: Dover Port and Manston Airport

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Border Force’s staffing levels were in (a) the Port of Dover and (b) Manston Airport in each quarter since January 2019 to date.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not routinely publish information relating to the number of staff working in specific locations as this would publicise operational practises which, in the wrong hands, could be used to attempt to evade controls at the border and compromise border security.However, resource and staffing requirements at every port are continually reviewed by Border Force and we work closely with all port operators to try and anticipate demand. Resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.

Armed Forces: Families

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact on armed forces families of the £2,404 fee per family member to obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain in the context of the rise in the cost of living.

Kevin Foster: Fees charged for Indefinite Leave to Remain and other immigration products are kept under review. Income from fees charged plays a vital role in the Home Office’s ability to run a sustainable migration and borders system and it is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing reliance on the UK taxpayer. The fees and policies which apply to the dependants of HM Forces are closely aligned with those apply to dependents of British citizens and settled persons under the standard family rules. Further support for armed forces families in planning for the cost of visa fees is provided by the Joining Forces Credit Union service. Some dependants of serving HM Forces may also acquire or be eligible for British citizenship which would negate the need to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain or any other visas. From 6 April this year, settlement fees for eligible non-UK serving personnel have been waived. This fee waiver will reduce the overall cost to some family units who choose to settle in the UK.

Passports: Advisory Services

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the passport advice service provided by Teleperformance under the terms of her Department’s contract with that organisation; what recent discussions she has had with representatives of Teleperformance on potential improvements to the passport advice service; when the contract between her Department and Teleperformance is due to expire; and whether she plans to renew that contract.

Kevin Foster: The service provided by Teleperformance is monitored daily to a pre-defined Service Level Agreement.In light of Teleperformance’s delivery not meeting the required standard earlier this year, they have been responding to a formal rectification plan. The service has significantly improved in response.Weekly meetings have been held between Her Majesty’s Passport Office and Teleperformance’s CEO, where technical innovation to support the rectification has been discussed and subsequently implemented.The initial expiry of the Teleperformance contract is set for October 2024, with an optional extension period of two years.

Asylum: Hotels

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department’s policy to consult with local authorities before procuring hotels to use as asylum accommodation in their area.

Kevin Foster: When any new site has been identified, the Home Office will write to the Local Authority Chief Executive and the MP for the area to inform them of our plans to house Asylum Seekers within the hotel/alternative accommodation identified. This is normally done in advance of a hotel being used, but where an urgent need for accommodation occurs, this may take place retrospectively.The Home Office always gives as much notice as possible of our intention to use sites, however, the fluctuating nature of intake, coupled with the imperative to meet our statutory obligation, may mean we need to establish sites quickly to avoid people becoming destitute. Home Office officials would be in contact with appropriate Local Authority officers and all other relevant stakeholders to discuss the operational arrangements and share the necessary information. This would include our providers working with the emergency services to mitigate any risks to our service users and the wider community.

Visas: Tourism

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays in issuing tourist visas on the UK’s tourism industry.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office publishes data on its performance against its service level agreement for Visitors, which can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) recognises the impact of delays to customers can be significant. UKVI resources are focussed on reducing the current processing times and will continue to prioritise urgent compelling or compassionate cases across all workstreams. UKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates. The Department is also continuing to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up and simplify decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision. Additionally, UKVI has recently reintroduced a limited priority service in all markets where the service can be offered, which customers can also make use of. In addition, our Electronic Visa Waiver scheme was expanded in June to include Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. This means most nationals of these countries wishing to visit the UK as a tourist can now do so without applying for a full UK visa

Police: Mental Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to assess the effect of occupational pressures on the mental health of police and police community support officers.

Tom Pursglove: The Government and police leaders take the mental health and wellbeing of all police officers and staff very seriously. We recognise that policing by its very nature is challenging and we are doing all we can to support our police. This includes providing ongoing funding to the National Police Wellbeing Service in England and Wales, which is helping forces to identify the impacts of the role on mental health, developing work around building resilience, as well as supporting those who need it in response to traumatic events.On the 28 April, the Police Covenant for England Wales was enshrined in law as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.The Covenant will focus on health and wellbeing, physical protection and support for families, with a real emphasis on mental health support. Our initial priorities for the Covenant also include ensuring occupational health standards are embedded in forces and the appointment of a Chief Medical Officer for policing in England and Wales - and we have already ensured pre-deployment mental health support is embedded across all training providers.

Police: Early Retirement

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police staff have retired earlier than their pensionable age in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The Government does not hold this information.The normal pension age of police staff will be governed by the relevant pension scheme. The majority of police staff have access to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).Police staff in the Metropolitan Police Service have access to the Civil Service pension schemes.

Police: Sick Leave

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the latest data her Department holds on the level of sickness absence among police (a) officers, (b) community support officers and (c) support staff (i) nationally and (ii) in York.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of police officers on long-term absences, in England and Wales on an annual basis in March the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)These data are a snapshot of officers on long-term sick absence as at 31 March each year. Long-term sickness includes any recognised medical condition, physical or psychological, as reported by the officer or a medical practitioner, which has lasted for more than 28 calendar days.The absence data in the release covers police officers only, andare available by Police Force Area. Lower levels of geography are not collected.Data on the number of police officers on long-term sick absence in North Yorkshire and England and Wales, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount basis, as at 31 March each year, since 2007 can be found in the ‘Absences Open Data Table’ available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005764/open-data-table-police-workforce-absence-280721.odsThe next release of ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which will cover the situation as at 31 March 2022, is scheduled for release at 9.30am on Wednesday 27th July.

Police: Labour Turnover

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to help retain police officers.

Tom Pursglove: We are recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023. The increase over three years is unprecedented and reflects the biggest recruitment drive in decades.As at 31 March 2022, 13,576 additional officers have been recruited as part of the Police Uplift Programme in England and Wales, 68% of the 20,000 officer target.We are working hard with policing partners during this unparalleled recruitment drive to ensure that the right support is in place across forces. This includes ensuring new officers get the training and support they need to thrive and supporting the retention of valuable skills and experience.The retention of experienced police officers is a priority for the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Voluntary resignation rates, at two percent, are low compared to other sectors. We have also invested £1.1m for the College of Policing to create a National Leadership Centre to develop standards and a leadership development framework at all ranks and support better talent management across policing.We have also enshrined in law the Police Covenant, which will focus on improving the protection, health and wellbeing of officers, staff and their families.

Undocumented Migrants: Dover Port

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the (a) value and (b) length of the contracts Border Force holds with (i) MITIE, (ii) Interforce and (iii) Definitive PSA in connection with the processing of undocumented migrants arriving in the Port of Dover.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the private security companies (a) contracted or (b) sub-contracted to process undocumented migrants in (i) the Port of Dover and (ii) Manston Airport.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current minimum staffing levels are on contracts between the Border Force and private security contractors in (a) the Port of Dover and (b) Manston Airport.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has a number of arrangements in place to provide security, and custodial staff at the Port of Dover, and at its site in Manston. Details of these arrangements are as follows.Mite Care and Custody provide staff at both Port of Dover and Manston under the pre-existing Escorting and Related Services Contract, details of which can be found at the link below. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8e94f338-6049-48f7-8b82-9dea24af8857?p=1 In respect of staffing provided at Port of Dover and Manston this contract provides for a) 16 general security staff at Port of Dover working shifts over a 24 hour period (8 per shift)b) 40 general security staff at Manston working shifts over a 24 hour period (20 per shift)c) A total staffing complement of 335 custodial staff who work across a number of shifts to provide security services 24hrs a day 365 days a year at Manston Definitive PSA (trading as Interforce) provide security staff at both Port of Dover and Manston. This supplier has provided services under two contracts, one directly with them (August 2021 to March 2022) valued at £3.78m, and one via Bloom Procurement Services (April 2022 to September 2022) valued at £6.84m In respect of staffing this is demand lead and has changed over time. The current contract provides for a) Up to 130 security staff working shifts over a 24 hour period at Port of Doverb) Up to 30 security staff working shifts over a 24 hour period at Manston Management & Training Corporation (UK) Ltd provides security staff at Manston. These services are provided under a 6 month contract (July 2022 to December 2022) valued at £3.92m In respect of staffing this contract provides for a) A total staffing complement of 65 custodial staff who work across a number of shifts to provide security services 24hrs a day 365 days a year at Manston.

UK Border Force: Contracts

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what due diligence is undertaken by Border Force in relation to sub-contracting of private security services to deliver public contracts.

Kevin Foster: Due diligence is an ongoing process carried out during a procurement exercise and varies depending upon the nature and size of the contract being procured. Typical areas considered as part of the selection and due diligence of a potential supplier could include:Financial standingPast performanceCapabilityExperienceSecurity/Cyber SecurityWhether there are grounds to exclude a supplier

Asylum: Mental Health

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect the mental health of vulnerable asylum seekers.

Kevin Foster: Asylum seekers have full access to the NHS upon arrival in the UK.All Home Office staff and contractors engaging with asylum seekers are trained to adopt a risk-based approach towards potential indications of vulnerability and to refer relevant cases onto the Safeguarding Hub, a dedicated resource assigned to identifying and safeguarding vulnerable asylum seekers.The Safeguarding Hub works closely with the statutory agencies to signpost vulnerable customers for support with their health and social care needs.The Government is planning to provide an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services by 2023/24, the largest increase in mental health funding in NHS history.

Seasonal Workers: Ukraine

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian nationals in the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Workers visa have had their visas extended until the end of 2023.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian nationals in the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Workers visa, who have had their visas extended until the end of 2023, have also received their biometric residency permits displaying details of the extended right to be in the UK under this scheme.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters and a manual trawl would be required to determine these figures which would not be feasible.To date the seasonal work providers have nominated 2914 individuals eligible for the Seasonal Worker Ukrainian Extension Scheme. These workers are also eligible for the more favourable Ukrainian Extensions Scheme which provides for 36 months of leave and does not tie individuals to a specific employer.

Visas: Ukraine

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff employed by her Department (i) in the UK and (ii) overseas are assigned to dealing with outstanding Ukrainian refugee visa applications as of 12 July 2022.

Kevin Foster: Currently there are approx. 450 staff working on these schemes which are a mixture of resource from the Home Office and other government departments.

Identity Cards: EU Nationals

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of European Union identity cards seized by Border Force since 2010 were in the possession of people (a) under the age of 18 and (b) on organised visits from educational institutions.

Kevin Foster: Border Force does not hold this data in an easily accessible format. For the financial year beginning from 01/04/2021 to 31/03/2022, there were 1235 forged/counterfeit documents, and 153 imposters encountered at the UK Border.

Asylum: Applications

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in the last six months on providing decisions for outstanding asylum claims made in 2020; and whether targets are in place to reduce outstanding applications for (a) leave and indefinite leave to remain, (b) citizenship and (c) passports.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office are progressing decisions for outstanding asylum claims made since 2020 by investing in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives that will speed up and simplify our processes, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.We continue to develop existing and new technology to help build on improvements such as digital interviewing and are streamlining and digitising the case working process to increase the numbers of decisions made.The Home Office has prioritised capacity to Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Resources are now being returned to focus on visa routes impacted by these prioritisation decisions. The Home Office continues to prioritise any urgent and compassionate cases across all visa routes. Citizenship continues to work through cases as quickly as possible and the latest transparency data shows 98.4% of straightforward applications are decided within Service Standard.https://gov.uk/goverment/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q1-2022Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to 10 weeks when applying for their passport from the UK. The vast majority of people continue to receive their passport within this timeframe, with 97.7% of UK standard applications completed within 10 weeks between January and June.

Passports: Lost Property

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the number of passports handled by the Passport Office lost in the post each year since 2019.

Kevin Foster: The data held for documents lost in the possession of our providers of secure delivery services does not distinguish between newly issued passports and documents whcih were sent in support of an application.The table below shows the number of passports and supporting documents that have been confirmed as lost in the possession of a provider of secure delivery services in the UK for each year from 2019:YearConfirmed LossesVolume of consignmentsPercentage of confirmed losses20191687,548,7680.002%20201113,634,3200.003%2021 (01/01/2021 – 31/10/2021) *3125,260,0130.006%*Confirmed losses for the whole of 2021 will be available from September 2022.The data held for deliveries overseas are not broken down between those items reported as ‘lost’, and those that declared as ‘stolen’.The table below shows the number of passports and supporting documents that have been confirmed as lost in the possession of a provider of secure delivery services overseas for each year from 2019:YearLoss and TheftVolume of consignmentsPercentage of loss and theft20191031,007,9810.01%2020851,198,9540.007%2021157856,7420.019%

HM Passport Office: Recruitment

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new staff her Department plans to appoint to roles within HM Passport Office in (a) July 2022 and (b) August 2022.

Kevin Foster: Since April 2021, Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added over 850 additional staff to help meet the current unprecedented demand for passports. A further 350 staff will be added across the summer, which delivers against both the capacity plan for the remainder of this year, and in preparation for 2023.

Passports: Fees and Charges

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing fees for priority passport services when individuals have already waited beyond the stated usual service standard time of 10 weeks for their passport application to progress.

Kevin Foster: Upgrades to urgent services are only required where an applicant needs a passport sooner than ten weeks. For the small percentage of customers whose applications take longer than ten weeks, there is an expedited service at no additional cost to help ensure they receive their passport ahead of any planned travel.

Asylum

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in directing local authorities, which have previously not been involved, to participate in asylum dispersal.

Kevin Foster: Since the Full Dispersal Scheme was announced in April 2022 we have begun procuring asylum accommodation in cooperation with local authorities (LAs). We have seen an increase in dispersed accommodation capacity, with new areas now engaged. We are committed to working collaboratively with local authorities to implement the full dispersal model and an informal consultation with partners to shape the redesign of the asylum dispersal system closed on 1 July. As part of the informal consultation, we developed regional plans incorporating contributions from LAs across the UK and to support implementation of a reformed asylum dispersal model which is fair, sustainable, innovative and responsive to changing demands and needs over the long term. We have taken on board the representations made during the informal consultation period and are building the feedback into our plans for regional allocations. We will communicate these to Local Authority partners as soon as we can.

Visas: Ukraine

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of her Department's record keeping for the (a) Ukraine Family Visa Scheme and (b) Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Kevin Foster: All applications made under Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family Scheme are recorded on Home Office systems.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a Ukrainian national on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme without a Ukrainian passport who holds a Form for Affixing a Visa which has now expired is able to travel to the UK on their expired visa.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a Ukrainian national on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme who has been issued a visa on the form for affixing a visa FAV can be issued with a permission to travel letter if they subsequently obtain a Ukrainian passport.

Kevin Foster: UKVI would not normally issue a visa on a Form for Affixing a Visa (FAV) to someone who has a passport or travel document valid for travel to the UK.Yet to avoid delaying Ukraine Scheme applicants’ travel to the UK, it has been agreed UKVI not reissue the visa in the new passport and will allow them to travel with the visa still attached to a Form for Affixing a Visa (FAV), to be carried alongside their valid passport.A Form for Affixing a Visa (FAV) with an expired visa is no longer valid for travel.

Passports

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) median and (b) mean response time has been to passport queries sent by hon. Members on behalf of constituents to her Department in each of the last six months.

Kevin Foster: Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-q1-2022

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing First

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to implement the housing and support approach, Housing First, in (a) York and (b) England.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is committed to Housing First, which is why we committed to £28 million for three sub-regional Housing First pilots. We recognise that rough sleeping is a nationwide challenge, and that is why it is important that we consider the findings of our evaluation, together with our experiences from the three pilots, to ensure that we know how it could work best on a larger scale.The Spending Review committed over £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years, including through the Rough Sleeping Initiative. This funds local authorities across England to provide a range of specialist services to help the most vulnerable people in society off the streets and into secure accommodation, which could include setting up Housing First or housing-led solutions.

Housing First

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress has been made on the Housing First pilots.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Housing First pilots are now in their fifth year and by the end of May 2022 have cumulatively supported over 1,060 of the most entrenched and cyclical rough sleepers across 23 local authorities. Each client has access to critical wrap-around support including mental health, drugs and alcohol misuse support We also commissioned a consortium, led by ICF, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the programme, which will run for the duration of the pilots.  Four reports have been published to date, with the final report due at the end of 2023.

Homelessness: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the value of NAPpad in providing temporary accommodation to homeless people in York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting the implementation of NAPpad accommodation in local authority areas other than York.

Mr Marcus Jones: This Government is committed to ending rough sleeping within this Parliament and believes everyone deserves a roof over their head We recognise that local authorities are best placed to make decisions on what local services they provide, based on local priorities and circumstances. We welcome innovative ideas to reduce rough sleeping and would be interested to hear from the City of York Council and the Salvation Army on the results this initiative is having in the area.

Housing Estates: Planning

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring or incentivising developers to make an early commitment to seeking adoption for roads, drainage and open spaces on new housing estates, as part of the Government’s planning reform programme.

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on residents of new housing estates of developers not offering roads, drainage or open spaces on those estates for adoption.

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of granting local planning authorities power to refuse the grant of planning permission for new housing until such time as it is known whether or not the roads, drainage and open spaces on the proposed development will be adopted.

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of new housing being built on estates where the roads, drainage and open spaces are to remain unadopted; what the recent trends are in that proportion; and what the reasons are for those trends.

Mr Marcus Jones: When a new development is granted planning permission, local authorities can use section 106 planning obligations to secure a commitment from developers to provide and maintain communal spaces and facilities. It is up to developers and local planning authorities to agree appropriate funding arrangements for developments with common areas or shared services.Planning obligations may only constitute a reason for granting planning permission for the development if the obligation is necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms; directly related to the development; and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.Section 38 agreements facilitate the adoption of new roads built by developers to become highways maintained by the public purse. Whether a road is offered up for adoption is determined by the developer. Where a road is offered for adoption, the Highways Authority will assess whether the road has been constructed to the correct standard and will make a decision whether or not to adopt the road. This department does not hold data on unadopted roads.In all cases, the Government believes that it should be clear to potential purchasers what the arrangements are for the maintenance of roads and upkeep of open space, public or otherwise. Where a road is not adopted by the local authority the responsibility for maintaining the road rests with third parties, which are usually the owners of properties that front onto it. Estate rent charges are one way that residents cover the unadopted road’s maintenance. However, it is not appropriate that these homeowners have limited rights to challenge these costs.  That is why the Government intends to legislate to give freeholders on private and mixed tenure estates equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of estate rent charges, as well as a right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to appoint a new manager to manage the provision of services covered by estate charges.

Regional Planning and Development: Shropshire

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting semi-rural market towns in (a) Shropshire and (b) Telford and Wrekin as part of the next round of levelling up funding.

Lia Nici: I am delighted to have opened the application portal for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund on the 15 July.  We recognise that what constitutes priority investment will vary across local authorities and geographies, including in rural areas of the UK.  I am keen to see a diverse range of bids come forward so that this government can continue to invest in Levelling Up urban and rural communities across the UK.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the timetable for commencement of the Shared Prosperity Fund on community and voluntary sector groups that are in receipt of European Social Fund resources.

Lia Nici: This Government recognises the role that EU Structural funding plays in supporting people and businesses up and down the UK. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will continue this through empowering places to identify local priorities and deliver investment for their communities, where it is needed most.There remains a long tail of investment from EU Structural Funds, tapering off in 2024/25 to be replaced solely by UKSPF.Lead authorities have the freedom to invest across a range of interventions, which includes specific support for community and voluntary sector groups. This funding can be backdated to the 1st April 2022. Further detail can be found on GOV.UK.

Regional Planning and Development: West Midlands

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications have been received for the position of West Midlands Levelling Up Director.

Lia Nici: We are in the process of recruitment and more details will be available in due course.

Empty Property: Urban Areas

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill on local authority powers regarding empty high street properties with owners and leaseholders residing overseas.

Lia Nici: This Government is committed, through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, to empower local authorities to reinvigorate their high streets and town centres.High Street Rental Auctions will seek to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.Through the Register of Overseas Entities which is being developed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, local authorities will be able to gather information on overseas landlords. If overseas landlords own UK property via an overseas entity in scope of the Register of Overseas Entities, they will be required to register details with Companies House, including about their beneficial owners.

Coastal Areas: Litter

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department takes steps to ensure that the impact of littering on coastlines is taken into account when calculating funding for local councils.

Paul Scully: The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.   The allocation of this funding takes into account the different needs and resources of councils across the country, including the need for waste related services. Further information on how funding is allocated to local authorities is available here: http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/CalcFFs.pdf.   The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities.

Cabinet Office

Coronavirus: Death

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths his Department has recorded where the death certificate stated related to covid in each month since 2020.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 18 July is attached. Letter from UKSA response to PQ38631 (pdf, 160.6KB)

Infected Blood Inquiry

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Sir Robert Francis QC's Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study, published in June 2022, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues and other stakeholders regarding funding the compensation recommended for people infected and affected by contaminated blood and blood products.

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to evidence presented to the Infected Blood Inquiry, what steps he is taking to (a) respond to and (b) implement Sir Robert Francis’ recommendations.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 35990 on 18 July 2022.

Civil Service: Redundancy

Beth Winter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have met with the (i) PCS, (ii) Prospect and (iii) First Division Association civil service trades unions to formally consult those trade unions on the proposal to reduce civil service jobs by 91,000 over three years.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: There have been numerous meetings between officials and national representatives of PCS, Prospect, FDA and other Trade Unions on a wide range of Civil Service wide workforce matters, including pay and the proposed reductions, since that date. Specific dates where meetings have taken place are: 7th April11th April12th April17th April20th April25th April28th April12th May17th May31st May16th June27th June30th June14th July

Nusrat Ghani

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the status of the investigation by Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests into the events related to the hon. Member for Wealden's departure from Government in February 2020 is; and with reference to the Cabinet Secretary’s oral evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 28 June 2022, Q448, whether his Department provided briefing to the Prime Minister on that matter.

Michael Ellis: This investigation had not been completed by Lord Geidt prior to his resignation. The investigation, therefore, remains outstanding.The Prime Minister has taken the decision that the investigation should be a matter for a new Independent Adviser function, as soon as appointed by his successor.

Treasury

Debts: Civil Proceedings

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with international counterparts on the risk of countries facing litigation by bondholders in the English courts in the event that they seek to restructure their debts, including through the G20 Common Framework.

Richard Fuller: The UK regularly discusses sovereign debt issues with its international counterparts, including G7 and G20 partners and International Financial Institutions. Under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, private creditors, including bondholders, are expected to provide a debt treatment on terms at least as favourable as bilateral creditors, in line with the Comparability of Treatment principle

Money Laundering

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of anti-money laundering regulations on insurance brokering firms that hold client monies in undesignated client accounts.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of anti-money laundering regulations on estate agents that use undesignated client accounts.

Richard Fuller: HM Treasury recently published a review of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) 2017 in June 2022 which assessed the effectiveness of the UK’s anti-money laundering regime. The review noted the challenges faced by businesses that use undesignated client accounts, commonly referred to as pooled client accounts (PCAs), such as estate agents and insurance brokers. The Government has concluded that broadening the circumstances in which simplified due diligence (SDD) can be considered would be beneficial in improving access to PCAs, while still maintaining that SDD can only be done in low-risk situations.The Government plans to consult on options aiming to address the difficulties in accessing PCAs, including the option of broadening the range of low-risk circumstances in which PCAs may be provided without checks being required on the clients whose funds are held in the account.

Companies: Fraud

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of corporate fraud in each of the last three years; and in what sectors that fraud has been identified.

Richard Fuller: The outcomes of investigations into fraud, scams and economic crime are not centrally collated and we do not assess trends in corporate fraud. Investigations into suspected fraud against the public sector are conducted by the appropriate Department with responsibility for policy delivery. Investigations and enforcement activities are also undertaken by regulatory or enforcement agencies, such as the Financial Conduct Authority and National Crime Agency. Departments publish an Annual Report and Accounts including estimates of COVID-19 fraud and these are now being published for the 2021-22 financial year. The Counter Fraud Function in Cabinet Office publishes an annual estimate of the level of fraud and error in the public sector. Action Fraud records reported financial losses experienced by businesses, this can be found at https://colp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/0334150e430449cf8ac917e347897d46.

Monetary Policy: Inflation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of quantitative easing since 2020 on the rate of inflation.

Richard Fuller: The Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for the operation of monetary policy, including decisions on Bank Rate and quantitative easing. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, so the Government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy. Since the MPC were given independence over monetary policy CPI inflation has averaged around the 2% target. The Government continually monitors economic developments, including inflation, to consider their impact on businesses and households. The Government also remains committed to monetary policy independence, and we retain full confidence in the Committee.

ABN AMRO

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to publish any assessment his Department made of (a) TCI interactions with ABN Amro in 2007 and (b) the subsequent takeover by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of shares held by the TCI hedge fund in the Royal Bank of Scotland in each of the last 15 years.

Richard Fuller: HM Treasury does not routinely monitor the shareholdings of private-sector firms, and has not made an estimate of the amount of shares held by the TCI hedge fund in NatWest Group (previously the Royal Bank of Scotland). I am also not aware of any HM Treasury assessments of TCI interactions with ABN Amro or the subsequent takeover by RBS.

Children: Day Care

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the average annual costs to Government of (a) tax free childcare, (b) the universal 15 free hours entitlement, (c) the extended 30 hours entitlement, (d) the childcare support element of universal credit, (e) employer supported vouchers and (f) other expenditure on childcare.

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the take-up, as a proportion of eligibility, of (a) tax-free childcare, (b) the universal entitlement to 15 hours of free childcare, (c) the extended entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare, (d) the childcare element of universal credit and (e) employer supported childcare vouchers.

Alan Mak: An estimated 1.3 million families are eligible for Tax Free Childcare (TFC). The TFC Official Statistics show that 384,000 families (30%) used TFC in March 2022. 512,000 families (39%) used TFC at some point in 2021-22. TFC spend for the financial year 2021-22 was £411.3 million.In 2022-23, the Department for Education is planning to spend approximately £2.3 million for the universal entitlement for all three and four year olds, and approximately £900 million for the extended entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds (also known as 30 hours free childcare). The Department for Education is also planning to spend approximately £400 million for the 15 hours free early education entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds, approximately £52 million on supplementary funding for Maintained Nursery Schools, approximately £39 million for Early Years Pupil Premium, and approximately £18 million for the Disability Access Fund.In January 2022, 92% of all three and four year olds were receiving some form of funded early education (1.2 million children in total), and 384,100 eligible three and four year olds were registered for a 30 hours place in January 2022.In the latest month for which data is available (February 2022) 119,900 Universal Credit (UC) households were paid the UC childcare cost element. Overall, 13% of households on UC with all parents earning and children aged between 0 to 16 were paid the childcare element in February 2022. Spending on the Universal Credit childcare element is calculated as part of the total Universal Credit spend and separate figures are not available.There were an estimated 470,000 recipients of all forms of Employer Supported childcare in 2021-22. There is no estimate of the eligible population. Spend on all forms of Employer Supported childcare is estimated to be £460 million in 2020-21 and forecast to be £340m in 2021-22. Employer Supported Childcare is closed to new entrants.

Unemployment: Mortality Rates

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of unemployment on the mortality rate in England.

Alan Mak: The government remains focussed on maintaining near record-low unemployment, whilst providing the necessary support to help the most vulnerable to find work. The unemployment rate has fallen to 3.8% in the three months to May and is close to historic lows. We are building on the success of the Plan for Jobs, investing a total of £6 billion for the three years from 2022-23 to 2024-25: providing targeted additional support to help at risk groups find work, including younger and older age groups, the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities.

Employment: Taxation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendation of the Taylor Review on ensuring that the taxation of labour is consistent across all employment forms.

Lucy Frazer: The Government recognises that differences in tax treatment for individuals across employment forms can have a fiscal impact and affect how people and businesses choose to provide or take on labour. Good progress has been made in ensuring different forms of labour are taxed more consistently by, for example, addressing non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules, also known as IR35, which are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees but through their own company, usually a personal service company, pay broadly the same Income Tax and National Insurance contributions as those who are directly employed. The Government announced a 1.25 percentage point increase in all dividend tax rates alongside the Health and Social Care levy, to ensure that those with dividend income make a contribution on that income in line with the contribution made by employees and the self-employed on their earnings. The Government continues to keep all aspect of the tax system under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken as part of future fiscal events and in the context of wider public finances.

Trader Support Service

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has for the extension and future funding of the Trader Support Service.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is currently considering options for the future of the Trader Support Service and will ensure customers continue to receive support in meeting customs requirements under the Northern Ireland Protocol. Traders and businesses will receive further updates in due course.

Business Rates: Reform

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of comprehensive business rates reform rather than the introduction of an online sales tax.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a total online sales tax exemption for SMEs, regardless of the type of business and value of remote or online sales they transact.

Lucy Frazer: The Business Rates Review reaffirmed the importance of business rates for raising revenue for essential local services. The review concluded there is no alternative which would raise sufficient revenue to replace business rates without significant trade-offs. The review delivered meaningful reform to the system, reducing the burden of business rates with a package of changes worth £7 billion to business over the next five years and committing to more frequent revaluations from 2023, which will make the system fairer and more responsive for all ratepayers. In the final report of the Business Rates Review, the Government also announced that it would continue to explore the arguments for and against an Online Sales Tax, the revenue from which would be used to provide business rates relief for in-store retail. The consultation, which was published on 25 February and ran for 12 weeks, has now closed. The Government conducted extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders and is currently reviewing the feedback received. It will publish a response to the consultation on the Government’s website in due course.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in HM Revenue and Customs held electronic purchasing cards that allowed them to make purchases against that Department's budget as of 31 March 2022.

Lucy Frazer: 184 people within HMRC held electronic purchasing cards as at the 31 March 2022.

Small Businesses: VAT

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of temporarily increasing the VAT taxable turnover threshold from £85,000 to help small businesses with the rise in the cost of living.

Lucy Frazer: The UK has the highest VAT registration threshold in the OECD and as compared to EU Member States at £85,000. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether. Whilst the Government keeps all taxes under review, it was announced at Budget 2021 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2024.

Energy: Price Caps

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to offer support to households in September 2022 in the event that the energy price cap increases.

Alan Mak: The Government recognises that millions of households across the UK have been impacted by rising energy bills and the wider cost of living. That is why the Government is providing support for the cost of living now totalling over £37 billion this year. The package includes:£400 off GB energy bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS);A £650 Cost of Living Payment for over 8 million households across the UK in receipt of means tested benefits;A £150 one-off disability Cost of Living Payment for 6 million people who receive non-means tested disability benefits;An extra one-off £300 this year for over eight million pensioner households to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter;An extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund, for households that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for families that still need additional support. The Government has also expanded and increased the Warm Home Discount. Three million vulnerable households will now receive £150 each year. The Government’s objective for the Warm Home Discount is to focus the support towards those on the lowest incomes and in, or at greatest risk, of fuel poverty.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Prices

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of social tariffs on broadband packages for consumers in receipt of benefits.

Matt Warman: Raising awareness of social tariffs amongst eligible households is a key priority for DCMS.We are working closely with other departments including the Department for Education, and the Department for Work and Pensions, to share information on the availability of social tariffs with libraries, local authorities, schools and regional job centres. We have also engaged a number of charities to circulate social tariff messaging to help reach those who may qualify for support.On 27 June, the Secretary of State secured a set of public commitments from the UK’s major mobile and broadband providers to support families through the rise in the cost of living, which includes increasing efforts to promote their social tariff offers. To support the sector, the government is developing eligibility checking software which will allow a more efficient application process. We expect this work to conclude over the summer.

BBC News

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the merger of BBC News and BBC World News on the effectiveness of public service news broadcasting (a) in the UK and (b) overseas; and what discussions she has had with representatives of the BBC on funding to maintain those services.

Matt Warman: The BBC’s proposal to merge BBC News and BBC World News means that the BBC will continue to provide a 24 hour news channel both domestically and abroad. This forms part of the BBC’s plan announced on 26 May to keep the BBC relevant and offer value to all audiences in an on-demand age, with a particular focus on plans to build a digital-first BBC.We believe the recent licence fee settlement is a fair settlement for the BBC, which will see the BBC continue to receive £3.7bn in annual public funding to deliver its Mission and Public Purposes and continue doing what it does best. We recognise the BBC, just like individual households, businesses and other organisations across the UK, is having to make difficult financial decisions. But the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government, and decisions over its spending and services are a matter for them.The Government strongly values the BBC’s work in promoting UK values globally through its independent and impartial broadcasting. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will also continue to provide the BBC World Service with £94.4m p/a for the period 2022-2025.

Broadband: Misrepresentation

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of potential risks to the consumer of fibre to the cabinet products being sold as fibre products.

Matt Warman: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media.In 2017, the ASA considered the case of whether fibre to the cabinet products could be marketed as fibre. Their conclusion was that 'the word ‘fibre’ is unlikely to mislead consumers as it is currently used in the advertising of part-fibre broadband services.'The Government understands the significant benefits full-fibre broadband brings over fibre to the cabinet technologies, and that is why we are investing £5 billion in Project Gigabit to ensure at least 85% of the UK will have gigabit-capable connectivity by 2025.

Mobile Phones: Fraud

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has received representations on unauthorised text messages causing charges for consumers.

Matt Warman: DCMS regularly engages with industry, regulators and other government departments on the issue of nuisance communications, including unsolicited marketing communications.Services which charge consumers for receiving text messages (premium SMS) are regulated by the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA). In 2019, the PSA took enforcement action against companies for misleading and charging consumers for services without their consent, and introduced new rules to require a two-stage approval process before taking out a new subscription service. The PSA also extended these requirements to one-off purchases in their 2021 Code of Practice.Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), organisations must not send unauthorised marketing text messages to individuals without their prior consent, and consumers must be able to opt-out of future messaging, free of charge except for the cost of the initial transmission of refusal.If consumers are concerned about receiving unauthorised marketing texts, they can report these to the Information Commissioner’s Office. In relation to SMS charging, we would encourage people to contact the PSA to seek advice.

Television Channels: Competition

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward the plans in the Broadcasting White Paper for Ofcom to undertake a review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025, in the context of (a) the nine channels leaving Freeview this year and (b) the BBC’s plans to remove CBBC from broadcast TV.

Matt Warman: The Government is committed to the future of the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) platform (better known as “Freeview”) which remains popular with UK audiences and which plays an important role in supporting the delivery of public service broadcasting. It is our expectation that DTT will continue to be an important content distribution channel at least into the early 2030s. In recognition of this, the government has facilitated the long term renewal of DTT licences until 2034.As set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the government will ask Ofcom to undertake a review of market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025. Next steps in relation to this will be set out in due course.

Listed Events: Welsh Language

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the Media Bill, as announced in the Queen's Speech 2022; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring Welsh language free-to-air coverage of national sporting events.

Matt Warman: The Government will introduce the Media Bill when Parliamentary time allows.The listed events regime is designed to ensure that the nation’s favourite sporting events – like Wimbledon and the Olympics – are available to be shown on free to air television and can be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible.In its Broadcasting White Paper, the government announced its intention to make qualification for the listed events regime a Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) specific benefit. This will more clearly enshrine the important role our PSBs, including S4C the Welsh language public service broadcaster, play in distributing important and valuable content to UK audiences.

BBC: Television Channels

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment (a) her Department and (b) Ofcom have made of the impact on low income households without broadband of broadcast TV channels, including CBBC and other public service broadcast channels from the BBC, going online only.

Matt Warman: The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government, and decisions over its spending and services are a matter for the BBC. We recognise the BBC, just like individual households, businesses and other organisations across the UK, is having to make difficult financial decisions.However, the government is clear that the BBC must continue to deliver its Mission and Public Purposes, which includes providing high quality, distinctive content and services. The BBC must also comply with the requirements in their Operating Licence, as set and regulated independently by Ofcom. This includes ensuring an amount of children's television is shown prominently on television.We note that Ofcom is currently conducting a public consultation on a new Operating Licence to give the BBC greater flexibility to deliver its Mission and Public Purposes rather than having to meet specific quantitative quotas. We will continue to discuss Ofcom’s proposals with them as the consultation progresses.

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes in TV distribution methods on universal access to public service broadcasting, including for low income households that cannot afford broadband.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the learning and development of young people where access to TV channels, including public service broadcast channels, are only available over the internet to those families who can afford to pay for those services.

Matt Warman: The Government is supportive of a modern system of public service broadcasting that remains relevant and can continue to meet the needs of UK audiences in the future. In particular, the government believes that television audiences should continue to have access to a wide range of public service content on a free-to-air basis.The rapid growth in the take-up of superfast broadband and the proliferation of devices capable of connecting to the internet is changing the way we access audiovisual content. For example, 79% of households with a TV set now choose to connect it to the internet, giving them access to a wide array of additional services. These include both free-to-air and subscription-based video-on-demand services.As set out in our Broadcasting White Paper, the government is taking steps to support public service broadcasting and to protect audiences who cannot (or choose not to) access these additional services. In particular, we facilitated the extension of the DTT (“Freeview”) platform until 2034, in recognition of the important role it will continue to play as a means of watching both public service and commercial television. This includes programmes intended to contribute to the learning and development of young people.In addition, support is available for low-income households to access affordable broadband. A range of low-cost, broadband social tariffs are available in 99% of the UK. BT, Virgin Media O2, Sky, and other providers offer broadband social tariffs starting at £15 per month for households in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits. In addition, on 27 June, all the UK’s major broadband and mobile operators agreed a set of public commitments to support households with their connectivity costs.For these reasons, the government has not undertaken an assessment of the effect on the learning and development of young people of TV channels only being available over the internet to those families who can afford to pay for those services.

Internet

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has asked Ofcom to consider how its current review of net neutrality guidelines relates to the future of TV distribution and the enabling of affordable, inclusive reach of IP connectivity; and if she will make a statement.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has asked Ofcom to set out what it considers to be the relationship between its current review of net neutrality guidelines and the plans set out in the Broadcasting White Paper to carry out a future review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution.

Matt Warman: In September 2021, Ofcom launched a review of how its net neutrality guidelines are functioning, noting that there have been significant changes since the rules were first introduced. The review takes into account the views of a variety of stakeholders, including broadcasters and content distributors, with a consultation on proposals expected later this year. We look forward to their findings.The Government recognises that the future of digital and telecoms infrastructure in the UK, including issues around net neutrality, is linked to the future of TV distribution. In the Broadcasting White Paper, the government reaffirmed its commitment to the future of the Digital Terrestrial Television platform (Freeview) at least until the early 2030s. It also stated that before the end of 2025, it will ask Ofcom to undertake a review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025. Next steps will be set out in due course.

Performing Arts: EU Countries

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support UK touring acts that are facing challenges as a result of being limited to making three stops in Europe.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing a transitional support package to ensure that UK artists and crews have easy access to the European market.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will support the enablement of unfettered movement of specialist vehicles transporting concert equipment and personnel between multiple points across the EU.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that musicians and their entourages are able to work across Europe without impediment.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with her counterparts in EU member states to agree non-onerous, zero or low cost work and travel arrangements in Europe for musicians and other industry professionals.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will (a) make an assessment of the potential merits of streamlining entry routes into the UK for international artists and their entourages and (b) ensure that immigration guidance for that sector is up-to-date, comprehensive and accessible.

Matt Warman: The Government is committed to supporting the touring sector to adapt to new arrangements with the EU. We have worked with the sector and directly with Member States to clarify arrangements, press for specific changes from Member States, and introduce unilateral measures where possible.With regards to the movement of vehicles, the Department for Transport has implemented a Dual Registration measure. This enables specialist event hauliers who have an established haulage base outside Great Britain (GB) and who also maintain a GB haulage base and operate for hire and reward to temporarily transfer their vehicles between their two operator licences. We have also confirmed that ‘splitter vans’ that are carrying both equipment (which is not for sale) and up to 9 people do not fall in the scope of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), and their use is therefore subject to the applicable Member State law.EU Member States are principally responsible for deciding the rules governing what work UK visitors can undertake. Following the Government’s engagement, almost all EU Member States have confirmed they offer visa and work permit free routes for UK musicians and creative performers. This includes Spain and Greece, who introduced visa and work permit free touring routes in November 2021 and June 2022 respectively, following extensive Government and sectoral engagement.We are working with Member States to ensure their guidance is clear and accessible. We have published general business traveller summaries on GOV.UK, as well as ‘landing pages’ on GOV.UK for the creative sectors.The Government supports our world leading creative industries across the UK through a range of export support programmes, including the successful Music Export Growth Scheme and the International Showcase Fund. In addition, UK businesses, including touring professionals, can get answers to practical questions online and by telephone through the Export Support Service.The UK’s immigration rules for touring creative professionals are comparatively more generous than in many EU Member States. The UK’s domestic rules allow musicians, entertainers and artists (and their technical staff) from non-visa national countries, such as EU Member States and the US, to undertake paid work in the UK through routes which are set out on specific pages for the creative sectors on GOV.UK.

Telecommunications

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with representatives of companies with powers under the Electronic Communications Code since March 2021.

Matt Warman: The full list of Ministerial meetings is published on GOV.UK on a quarterly basis.Ministers and officials meet with representatives of companies with powers under the Electronic Communications Code (the Code), on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of policy and delivery matters, including those related to the Electronic Communications Code.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of local authorities that have had reduced rental income from telecommunications apparatus following renegotiations with (a) network and (b) infrastructure providers after the Electronic Communications Code was reformed in 2017; and if she will make a statement.

Matt Warman: The reforms made to the Code in 2017 were intended to make it cheaper and easier for digital infrastructure to be deployed, maintained and upgraded. These reforms recognised the increasing importance of digital communications services to UK consumers and businesses, and to the wider economy.The Government recognised that the reforms would mean landowners receiving lower payments for allowing their land or buildings to be used than had previously been the case. However, these changes were only introduced following an extensive period of consultation and research, and were considered necessary to reduce operator costs and encourage the industry investment required for the UK to get the digital communications infrastructure it needs.The 2017 reforms did not retrospectively alter the terms of agreements that had been completed before the 2017 reforms came into force. However, once a Code agreement expires, it is open to either the operator or the site provider to seek a renewal of that agreement and negotiate new terms.Most Code agreements are agreed on a consensual basis and often include a confidentiality clause, which means that information about its financial terms agreed cannot be shared with others or made publicly available, except in limited circumstances or with the other party’s permission. It is therefore not possible to estimate the number of local authorities which may have seen a reduction in rent following the expiry and renegotiation of Code agreements on their property since 2017.

Channel Islands: Internet and Satellites

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with her counterpart in the Channel Islands on (a) the potential merits of allowing Starlink to operate in the Channel Islands and (b) steps that could be taken to support faster internet speeds in remote parts of the Channel Islands.

Matt Warman: You may know that Ofcom has recently implemented an updated licensing framework for non-Geostationary Satellite networks in the UK. My officials will liaise with your office, relevant colleagues in the Channel Islands and Ofcom to arrange an exploratory meeting between officials.

Gambling

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on publication of the White Paper following its review of gambling legislation.

Damian Collins: The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in due course.

Theatres: Prescot

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Shakespeare North project in Prescot on arts education and the local regeneration of the town for residents following her visit to that project.

Nigel Huddleston: The Secretary of State visited Shakespeare North in Prescot last month so she could see personally the contribution the project has made and will continue to make to the local economy and the ambitious and extensive educational outreach that is planned. Shakespeare North provides many opportunities for children and young people to experience creative and cultural activities and works with education providers to ensure they can engage with the venue in a meaningful way. Education partnerships from Shakespeare North provide local schools with workshops, access to performances and Continuing Professional Development opportunities for teachers wanting to promote cultural learning and creative practice in their classrooms. Shakespeare North’s community programmes are providing creative activities and opportunities to engage with their local culture and heritage through workshops for people of all ages. These activities exemplify the Secretary of State’s priority to promote access to arts and culture and encourage residents to draw on the rich heritage of their local area.Shakespeare North has received capital funding from central and local government, including: £5 million Treasury grant in 2016; £12 million Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (increased from £6 million); £10.5 million Liverpool City Region (LCR) (increased from £6.5 million); and £3 million from the Capital Kickstart fund.The Government recognises that improving access to high-quality arts and culture in previously under-served areas of the country is critical to giving people pride in the cities, towns and villages in which they work and live, helping people in every part of the country to prosper and to fulfil their full potential. This is why the Government instructed Arts Council England to invest all the additional money (£43.5 million) agreed in the 2021 Spending Review outside London and where possible in Levelling Up for Culture Places – 109 areas that the Government and Arts Council England have jointly identified as having had historically low investment in arts and culture, which will be targeted for future investment. One of the areas is St Helen’s, which has already received over £6 million in funding since 2018 for 36 projects, such as Heart of Glass, which works with artists and community groups to unlock stories, reimagine public spaces and forge new connections.Earlier this year, the Department for Education’s Schools White Paper shared their intention to work with DCMS to develop and publish a Cultural Education Plan, working in close collaboration with Arts Council England, Historic England and the British Film Institute. This plan will include how best to support children and young people to take part in cultural opportunities in their local areas and to support those who wish to pursue careers in creative and cultural industries.

Commonwealth Games 2022: Pollution Control

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to Powell's Pool to ensure that it meets acceptable water quality safety standards for the Commonwealth Games Triathlon and Paratriathlon events.

Nigel Huddleston: Birmingham City Council is responsible for Powell’s Pool as part of the wider operation, management and maintenance of Sutton Park. Birmingham City Council has been regularly monitoring the water quality in Powell’s Pool and sharing this data with the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee. Any funding allocated to ensuring the pool meets acceptable water quality safety standards for the Games comes from Birmingham City Council’s existing budgets and not from the budget for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Sports: Mental Health

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health and wellbeing training requirements for qualified sports coaches.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government recognises the importance of welfare and mental wellbeing for people participating in sport at all levels. An inclusive and professional sport and physical activity workforce is key to supporting people to be active. We want people taking part in sport and physical activity to have the best possible experience, which means that the workforce must be recruited, developed and supported in the right way.Sport England, our arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, funds a number of projects which aim to address knowledge and skills gaps of coaches in areas such as mental health. In 2019 they launched an e-learning course developed alongside Mind, UK Coaching and 1st4Sport which aims to help coaches and sport and physical activity providers increase their knowledge of mental health including how to support and engage people experiencing mental health problems. In 2020 Sport England also launched a duty of care toolkit with UK Coaching to equip coaches with the knowledge and skills to provide better coaching experiences and better look after themselves.In recent years UK Sport, DCMS's arm's length body for elite sport, and the English Institute for Sport also have launched a programme of mental health education to promote positive mental health amongst coaches and support staff and encourage them to develop self-care strategies.We will continue to work with our arm’s length bodies, sports bodies, and sector partners to promote good coaching which benefits both participants and coaches.

Scouts and Guides: Finance

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2022 to Question 30208 on Youth Organisations: Kirklees, what assessment her Department has made of the potential role of scouting in the National Youth Guarantee scheme.

Nigel Huddleston: The National Youth Guarantee is this government’s commitment that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities.As part of the National Youth Guarantee funding we intend to launch a Uniformed Youth Fund later this year to increase access to Uniformed Youth groups across the country. The fund will allow organisations such as the Scouts to increase provision in areas with unmet demand, improving the wellbeing of young people and helping them to develop skills for life and work.

Swimming Pools

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding for local authorities to help them manage the impact of rising energy prices on the operating costs of swimming pools in public leisure centres.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.We also recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in leisure facilities. Sport, and local authorities, are devolved matters, therefore investment decisions concerning them in Wales are the responsibility of the relevant administration.

National Lottery: Licensing

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Gambling Commission takes into account potential national security implications when awarding National Lottery licences.

Damian Collins: The process of awarding the licence to run the National Lottery is governed by the National Lottery etc. Act (1993)​​. Under the Act, the Gambling Commission has a duty to ensure that any person who either runs or benefits from the running of the National Lottery is fit and proper and that the Licensee’s operation meets high standards of propriety. The award of the licence is distinct from an acquisition - at no point is the operator appointed to run the lottery the owner of the National Lottery as an asset. The 4th National Lottery licence is due to begin in 2024.During the competition to run the 4th National Lottery licence, the Commission carried out fit and proper tests on all 4 final stage applicants. Fit and proper checks examine the identity, integrity, criminality and financial standing of those who run, or benefit from running, the National Lottery, or are applying to do so. As part of its duties under the Act, the Commission cannot award the licence unless it is satisfied that the proposed licensee is fit and proper. The Commission is also required to revoke a licence if it becomes satisfied that the licensee is no longer, or indeed never was, fit and proper.Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Gambling Commission, as a responsible regulator, sought assurances that none of the final stage applicants were impacted by sanctions against the Russian regime. The Commission was satisfied that this was the case.In addition, following the announcement of Allwyn as the preferred applicant in March 2022, standard vetting checks (Baseline Personnel Security Standard or BPSS level) are being carried out as planned, on behalf of the Commission, by UK Security Vetting on key people connected with the proposal. These include Qualifying Direct Shareholders, which is any person who holds at least 5% interest in the licensee. Full details of what is included in a BPSS level check is outlined on the UKSV website.